Avatar: The Last Airbender, Take 2
by 444teme444
Summary: Hi, so this is my first ever fan fic. Bascially it's if Zuko joined in crossroads of destiny. Please read if you like it and if you don't please help me improve.
1. Prologue

Hi, so this is bascially Avatar, from the Crossroads of Destiny, but if Zuko had joined then. Don't get me wrong I love Book 3, but I was always very surprised at zuko's choice and jsut wished he joined sooner, but thats what fanfiction is for. This is my first ever fan fic, so I am very open to comments and critizism from reviewers, so please feel free to say what you think about my writing. I hope at least some people will enjoy my story and if they do i will try to continue it.

* * *

Avatar The Last Airbender; Take 2.

Princess Azula and her two her allies Mai and Ty Lee were sitting in there new apartment right in the middle of the earth kingdoms so called impenetrable city. It was so easy to disguise herself as the enemy and sneak right under the Earth Kings nose. For a hundred years the Fire Nation has been banging away at Ba Sing Si to no avail. Surprisingly they had been the closet when her failure of an uncle broke the outer wall but in the end he just gave up when he was so close to glory. Glory that would soon be hers.

"So how did the meeting with Long Feng go?" inquired the ever positive acrobat.

"Perfect, he doesn't suspect a thing" responded Azula "He's fallen under the delusion that he is pulling all the strings. It will have to remain that way until we gain control of the Dai Li"

"What about the Avatar?" asked Mai. "He could be back soon and ruin everything again"

Azula was mildly annoyed at Mai observation. She was right of course but that still did not distil her anger. Azula had developed a much stronger animosity towards the Avatar and his allies for defeating her and stopping the drill. It would take years to rebuild it and although she would never admit it, she _had_ been defeated. To think she, the Fire nation princess beaten by a child and a bunch of water tribe peasants. Azula kept her composure at all times but inward she longed for the day when she can take her revenge.

"I asked Long Feng's second-in-command to come here tonight so that we can discuss what needs to be done"

As if on cue, a Dai Li agent entered their lavish apartment and gave a small bow of respect

"You wish to speak with me about the Avatar?" he asked.

"Yes, you have informed me that he is has left the city but will return soon. We need to be prepared to stop him if he interferes with the coup.

The second-in-command nodded, but felt strangely disturbed as Long Feng had given him the same order not too long ago, but he quickly brushed it off.

"We will have to save most of our best agents for when we capture the Earth King and the five generals, but once all preparations have been taken care of we should be able to take the Avatar if he returns"

The second-in-command hoped that the fire nation princess would remain co-operative during the operation. If she should cause the plan to fail, the Dai Li will have to wait for another opportunity to retake control of the city.

Azula returned his response with a smile. It was an odd smile he thought. It was hard to tell if she made because she was pleased or if she was amused or even if it was sarcasm. Her body language was almost impossible to read.

"Oh well that's excellent we should definitely save the best agents for the coup"

The second-in-command was slightly unsure of the Princess's response but was satisfied that she would not try to change their plans.

"Uh yes…well, it is good that you approve" _Was it? What I'm saying?_

"After all against the Avatar the Dai Le's best probably wouldn't be good enough"

The second-in-command now looked at her in confusion.

"I'm sorry, what?" he asked.

Both Mai and Ty lee looked at each other, not sure what Azula was planning but knew that this man had already fallen into her trap.

"Oh I just thought that since the Dai Le fought the Avatar already and failed it was best for you not to handle him yourself"

The second-in-command was angered at her statement, not wiling to take insults from some spoiled fire nation brat.

"The Dai Le is more than capable of handling the avatar"

"That remains to be seen". Azula stood up her words now with added force, which left the second-in-command slightly taken back. "The avatar is quickly mastering the elements, to defeat him I will need additional back up. Someone with skill and prowess, someone without mercy or restraint. Someone the Avatar will be unprepared to fight. Is there anyone in the Dai Le with those qualifications?"

As she spoke, only one person came to his mind.

"Well…. there may be someone who could be of use to you" he replied rather uncertainly

"Really? Go on." she said with interest.

"Uh though it may not be a good idea to involve him, he is dangerous and unstable. It would be impossible to control him"

"Anyone can be controlled" she said. "I would think the Dai Le would know that by now, controlling an entire city for a hundred years"

"Yes but he is different. Believe me we tried but none of our techniques worked on him. He had to be locked away"

"Take me to him tomorrow and I will deal with him" she said.

"I can't do that. Long Feng would never allow it"

"Oh? Would he allow you to question me? At such an important time as this when you have finally gained the opportunity to retake control of this city? I doubt he would be pleased if anyone caused a slip up, even his second-in-command"

_What is she? A mind reader?_

"No no, of course not, but this man, he's not a man, he is a monster. It took half the Dai Le just to bring him in, letting him out now would just disrupt our plans."

"Then allow me to take responsibility of him that way if he does cause trouble Long Feng will not hold you accountable."

This was almost exactly what he wanted to hear. He felt such relief but at the same his hesitance remained. He decided it was best to do as she asked for now and to avoid any further conversing with the Princess.

"Very well then I will bring you to his cell tomorrow"

As turned to leave the Princess spoke one last time. "Oh one last thing, I think we shouldn't mention this to Long Feng."

This time the second-in-command would not fall for her tricks. "I'm sorry but Long Feng must be kept informed of all developments." He stood his ground ready for whatever argument the fire nation Princess would have for him.

"Okay that's fine" she said.

Of all the responses, she could have given, that is one he did not expect.

"Alright then" he said, finally ready to make his leave, but once again the Princess made another comment, as if to herself.

"It's quite wise of you to keep Long Feng informed, I mean it must be hard for him to keep control of his operations when stuck in his jail cell, but hopefully once we succeed he won't end up in there again."

The second-in-command didn't turn to look at her or have anything to say back. He stood there for a moment and then finally made his leave, all the while still trying to process what had just been said.

Azula smiled to herself, quite satisfied with the progress she had just made.

"Well, that was easy" said Mai.

"It's almost too easy." replied Azula with a sigh. She now turned out to look at the glorious city. The city that would soon be hers.

* * *

_Prince Zuko walked through the empty streets of Ba Sing Si, the night sky completely cloudless, and the stars shinning endlessly above him. He did not know where he was going, but felt the need to keep wandering the city. Finally he reached the same fountain he had been at on his date with Jin. He looked around and saw that all the lanterns had been lit, but the fountain was deserted, save for him._

_This peaceful imagery was quickly shattered as the sky changed, taking on an orange tilt and large clouds gathered from out of nowhere. An ominous feeling swept over Zuko, as the ground began to shake and suddenly something large erupted from the ground, destroying the fountain and the houses surrounding it. Zuko stumbled back, terrified at this monstrous figure. When the dust settled he took a closer look at the beast and saw that it was a giant badger mole, but at least three times its normal size. It began to sweep its claws across the streets, grinding everything in its path to dust._

_Zuko could do nothing but stand by and watch this terrible, yet powerful display of force, until he heard a familiar roar from above. He looked up and saw an equally large sky bison come from out of the clouds and take a flying charge at the badger mole. They collided with a thunderous boom and began to push against one another, each one trying to gain an upper hand. _

_It was only Zuko who noticed that their battle was destroying what was left of the city. He wonder if he should try to intervene, but gave up on that notion, as there wasn't anything he could do to end this conflict. Once again the ground beneath him shook like an earthquake and the badger mole now lifted the bison from underneath and tossed him across the city. Zuko now began to run as the bison fell toward him but he couldn't escape as its giant form enveloped him in darkness_

Zuko woke up with a fright, panting heavily and dripping in a cold sweat. He had thought the nightmares would stop after his illness had passed but this one felt different. He lay awake in his new apartment, trying piece together what the dream meant. He could barely remember everything that happened; the images were foggy in his memory, like with the other dreams.

He could hear Uncle snoring in the next room. He was pretty tired when they got back from the Jasmine Dragon's grand opening, but Zuko didn't think he ever saw his Uncle happier. Uncle now had everything he ever wanted in life; a nice apartment, his own tea shop, and a full Pai sho set. They had even been invited to serve tea to the Earth King himself. Things were really starting to change for them both.

Zuko closed his eyes, his thoughts now returning to his own situation. Things had indeed begun to change, but would they be for the better or worse? Was this going to be his lot in life from now on? Could he really be happy here? These questions rolled around in his mind. He still didn't have any answers, but he decided that whatever's going to happen he would stick by Uncle, no matter what. And with that he turned his head to the side and went back to sleep.

* * *

Aang kept wondering if he had made the right choice back at the air temple.

_By choosing earthly attachment you have blocked your chakra. If you go now you won't be able to enter the Avatar State at all!_

Guru Pathik's words still rung in Aang's mind, but he couldn't let that stop him now. He was almost to Chameleon Bay to pick up Sokka. They had to get back to Ba Sing SI; Katara was in danger and right now that was all he cared about, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he would soon have to deal with the problem of the Avatar State. Something terrible was happening in Ba Sing Si. He didn't know what but he just hoped he was ready.

_The ones who want to stop the war, the ones who want to win it and the ones who haven't chosen a side yet, were about to meet head on. Whatever the outcome was, it would be decided in Ba Sing Si._

* * *

_So, thats the first chapter please, like, comment or review and thank you in advance for reading my story._


	2. The Crossroads of Destiny

Hi so here is the first chapter, bascially its a rewrite of Crossroads of destiny. Im thinking of doing it chapter by episode but I thought that this one was too a bit long, so I would apprecate some feedback on this. I do not own Avatar the last airbender.

* * *

The Crossroads of Destiny.

Aang and Sokka quickly flew across the barren terrain that led up to the outer wall of the city. Aang was quick to inform Sokka of his vision, but neglected to mention his training with the guru.

"So what exactly has happened to Katara?" asked Sokka, showing his concern for his sister.

Aang tried to remember what he had seen in his vision but all that could come to his mind was Katara, calling for help. "I don't know. In my vision, I could just tell she needed help."

Sokka crossed his arms and shook his head, a little disappointed by Aang's lack of information. He had just lost his chance to fight side by side with his dad, because Aang had told him Katara was in trouble but they didn't even know what it was.

"It would be nice if you're mighty Avatar powers were a little more specific from time to time." It was then that Sokka noticed something strange down on the ground. It looked like a big mound of earth that was moving on its own, cutting through everything in its path. As they flew down lower to investigate they realised that it was Toph earth surfing her way to Ba Sing Se. Though they both wondered what she was doing out here, they were never the less happy to find her before getting back to the city.

"Need a ride?" asked Sokka.

At the sound of Sokka's voice Toph quickly became startled and lost her balance. Both Aang and Sokka cringed when she went crashing into the ground. Aang thought that Sokka would really have to start remembering that Toph was blind.

* * *

Azula stood within a deep underground catacomb, making her speech to the gathered agents of the Dai Le. She would ensure that they would carry out her will as instructed. This would be the beginning of the greatest day in fire nation history. The day they would finally conquer Ba Sing Se. And nothing was going to stop her. But first things first. She would have to win over the Dai Le from Long Feng. She had been calculating the best way to achieve this, since she Long Feng had foolishly placed her in command.

_First make my enemy their enemy_

"The Earth King and the Council of Five do not trust the Dai Le. They imprisoned your leader Long Feng and soon they will turn against all of you. Seizing power today is a matter of life and death.

_Next lay out the plan._

This coup must be swift and decisive. The Earth King and each of the five generals must be taken out simultaneously.

_Now, show them who is really in charge._

Azula now began to walk along the line of agents in front of her, inspecting each of them as she passed.

"Long Feng has placed you in my command while we overthrow the government. If I sense any disloyalty, any hesitation, and any weakness at all, I will snuff it out." She had stopped in front of one agent with two scars across his face, who was clearly intimidated by her speech.

_Good. The fear has been set._

The agents bowed and left her alone with Mai and Ty lee, who was now serving tea for each of them. They were both wearing their Kyoshi warrior's outfits, as they needed to maintain their charade for a while longer until the Earth King had been taken.

"Nice speech, Azula. It was pretty and poetic, but also scary in a good way." said Ty Lee as she handed Azula her tea.

"Yeah. I thought you were going to make that one guy pee his pants. "added Mai with a rare bit of humour.

Azula always enjoyed their praise of her greatness, as she deserved it, but it was still too soon to celebrate.

"There are still a few loose ends to tie up. The Avatar, and my brother and uncle."

Long Feng's second-in-command now walked forward to Azula.

"If you are now ready Princess" he asked respectfully, "I will now take you to see Tadao"

"Who?" asked Ty Lee.

"He's the dangerous prisoner Dai le have locked up" replied Azula. "I'm going to see if he can be of any use to us." She turned back to the second-in-command. "Make sure you send someone to pick up my brother and uncle, and have some Dai le agents ready to move in. Tell them not to move until I have joined them." The second-in-command nodded and began to lead the Princess.

* * *

Both Azula and the second-in-command were walking down a long corridor, buried deep underground. They finally arrived at a metal door with several locks on it, with two Dai Le agents stationed on either side.

"We have had him locked up for almost four years now. We ensure that no earth of any kind or amount is left inside with him. We only have only ever let Long Feng down to see him, to try and persuade him to go on a mission for us, but he normally says no.

Azula's interest had been peaked ever since she had learned of this dangerous man. She was now very eager to meet with him.

"What exactly is it about him that makes him so dangerous?" she asked.

"We believe that he originally came from the Si Wong desert, as he is proficient in sandbending. He came to the city as a refugee a few years ago. He was just a child but we soon discovered how dangerous he could be" replied the second-in-command. "All he needs is even a small amount of earth or sand and he can turn it into a weapon. We brought him in when he started to cause trouble. Long Feng thought that he could be a very useful Dai Le agent for us, but we were unable to break him. He's made several escape attempts in the past and injured several agents, so he was moved down here. Now he just sits in his cell all day"

"Open the door and let me speak with him alone".

The second-in-command couldn't believe what he had just heard. He thought that the Princess was crazy but at the same time he was impressed with her courage. He certainly did not want to be in there with Tadao on his own. He ordered the guards to open the doors. They undid the locks and now stood back, as the door swung open, preparing themselves for any attack from within. There no movement or noise from inside the cell.

Azula calmly walked inside the cell, as the guards closed the doors and then finally saw the man who put so much fear into the Dai Le. He sat cross legged on the ground with his back to door, and was completely motionless; as if he didn't realised his cell door had been opened. There was little light in the cell, especially with the door now closed, so most of him was almost completely hidden in the shadows, but Azula could tell he wore a dark and very ragged robe over his body, that look similar to the Dai Le's uniform.

"Hello there" said Azula," You must be Tadao."

The man didn't turn around or stand up to acknowledge her, but did return her greeting.

"Hello" was all he said. He spoke in a rather soft manner, with a slight rasp in his voice.

"I am Azula crown Princess of the Fire Nation….and I have heard quite a lot about you."

"And what does the crown Princess of the Fire Nation want with me?" he asked, in a very indifferent tone of voice, giving Azula the impression that he didn't care that the heir of the enemy nation had come to visit him in his cell.

"I am about to take control of Ba Sing Se and I may be able to use you."

"Aren't you ambitious." he replied, once again in an indifferent tone.

"I think perhaps you should turn around and speak with me face to face." she suggested, though in her mind it was an order. "I'm offering you the chance to escape this tiny little box. You should be more willing to hear me out."

"Even if I were to say yes, it wouldn't matter. Long Feng will never let me stay out for very long."

Azula smiled and moved closer to him. "By the end of this day," she whispered to make sure that the guards couldn't hear her, "Long Feng will no longer be in control of the Dai Le. If you help me, I may give you a place in service to the Fire Nation, or I can just leave you here to rot in this cell for the rest of your life. Either way, I'm the one who will decide your fate. So why don't you turn around and face me?"

When she had finished, Tadao slowly began to rise from where he was sitting and finally turned to face Azula. He moved closer to her, until she could see his face in the light. The first thing Azula noticed was that he was quite young. He looked no older than Zuko. He's hair was cut short, yet the fringe of it was long enough to fall to one side of his forehead. He's skin was kind of a lighter version of Earth Kingdom citizens normally dark tone, probable from all the time his spent in this cell. Finally his eyes were a light brown colour, but they looked almost empty. To any other girl he may been considered very handsome, if Azula herself had even the slightest bit of interest in what he looked like.

"If you're trying to intimidate me" he said "You should try a little harder".

"Alright then" she said. She obliged to his wish and shot a short burst of fire from her two fingers, across his left shoulder. Had she aimed just a bit further to the right he would be dead. However he didn't even flinch or make any kind of expression. He just stood there staring directly at her with his cold eyes.

Inwardly Azula was rather impressed with his level of fortitude. Now she would she if he had the skill to go with it.

"Very well" she said in a nonchalant manner. "It doesn't look like I can persuade you, but perhaps we can part ways as friends." Azula held out her right hand, waiting for him to return the gesture.

Tadao looked down at her hand and then back to her face. He slowly grasped her hand in his and very gently shook it, all the while maintaining complete eye contact with her.

"Like I said, you are ambitious."

He then let go of her hand and watch with a blank expression as she ordered the guards to open the cell door and let her out, leaving him once again alone. He now looked down at the small stone she passed to him during their hand shake. He clasped the stone in both his hands and slowly used earth bending to grind at it, until it became nothing but a small pile of sand in his hands.

* * *

After they had received a private taxi which took them to the palace, both Zuko and Uncle walked through the huge courtyard up to the palace doors. Zuko had to admit, the Earth Kingdom's capital palace was indeed magnificent. Its grandeur rivalled that of the Fire Lord's palace.

"Many times I imagined myself here at the threshold of the palace." said Uncle, "But I always thought I would be here as a conqueror. Instead we are the Earth King's personal guest, here to serve him tea. Destiny is a funny thing isn't."

"It sure is, Uncle" said Zuko.

Zuko couldn't help but smile at his uncle's observation. It was rather funny. The man who was originally meant to be the Fire Lord, was about to meet with the King of the enemy nation, and drink tea as if they were old friends. Yet Uncle was satisfied with this outcome. Uncle was always happy no matter what life threw at him. Zuko now wondered if he would ever end up in such a strange position.

* * *

After Toph had lifted herself out of the ground and on to Appa, she held on to Sokka's arm, so she wouldn't fall, but not before giving him a good, hard punch in the arm for making her fall earlier.

"So how did it go with the guru" she asked. "Did you master the Avatar State?"

Aang suddenly became very nervous. He had hoped to avoid the subject of the Avatar State, at least until they saved Katara.

"Uh it went great with the guru. I completely mastered the Avatar State" He finished with a very nervous laugh and looked down to the ground. He was glad Toph asked him up here; otherwise she would have known he was lying.

* * *

Zuko and Uncle were led to a small room to wait for the Earth King. Uncle had already poured tea for each of them, but the Earth King had yet to arrive. Zuko was beginning to feel a bit anxious after waiting serveal minutes.

"What's taking so long?" he asked.

"Maybe the Earth King overslept?" suggested Uncle.

They heard someone approaching them, but they saw it was not the Earth King but rather a small group of men in robes. At first Zuko assumed that they may be the Earth King's personal guard but as they began to circle them, Zuko soon began to get a very bad feeling about the situation.

"Something's not right" he whispered to Uncle. It looked as though they may have a fight on their hands, but with who they wondered?

They got their answer when none other than Azula walked into the room and stood in front of them.

"It's tea time!" she said in a very cherry tone to her brother and uncle. "Sorry I'm late. I had some business to take care of. Have either of you met the Dai Le? They're earth benders but with a killer instinct that was so fire bender. I just love it"

Zuko couldn't believe it. Somehow Azula had managed to track them down all the way to Ba Sing Se, and now had them trapped, but then again it was Azula they were dealing with. Zuko stood up ready to fight their way out of here, but Uncle poured himself some more tea, before slowly getting up.

"Did ever tell you niece, how I got the nickname the Dragon of the West?" he asked.

"I'm not interested in your history lessons Uncle" she said lazily.

"It's more of a demonstration really".

Uncle took a sip of his tea. Zuko smiled, realizing what he was about to do and quickly ducked behind him. Uncle let out a jet of fire from his mouth and began to circle the room, stunning each of the DaI Le agents, as well as Azula. Zuko then made a small burst of fire to blast their way of the room.

The Dai le agents quickly recovered and began shooting small portions of their rock gloves at the two of them as they rounded the corner. As came up to a wall, Uncle moved his arms in a circle motion and generated a shot of lighting to destroy the wall. Uncle jumped through the hole he made down to the garden below, but Zuko stopped at the edge.

"Come on. You'll be fine" Uncle called up to his nephew.

"No!" said Zuko. "I'm tired of running. It's time I faced Azula."

Uncle just smacked his head at his nephew stupidity, as he seemed to have forgotten about the small army of earth benders Azula had with her. Zuko however didn't care. There was nowhere else for them to hide from Azula, so he might as well face her head on.

"Must you be so dramatic Zuzu?" asked Azula. "What next? Are you going to challenge me to an Agni Kai?"

"Yes! I challenge you" he said.

Azula merely scoffed at him. "I have better things to do"

Zuko growled in anger at Azula's dismissal of him. He then shoot a blast of fire at azula, but Two Dai Le agents stepped forward and raised up a section of the floor as a shield. The other agents then shot two rock gloves at his feet, making him lose his balance. Azula smiled and walked away as the agents quickly finished subduing Zuko.

* * *

Aang, Sokka and Toph stood in front of the Earth King in the throne room. They had just finished explaining to the King about the danger Aang had forseen, but the King just calmly told him that nothing was wrong.

"Katara's fine. You have nothing to worry about" he said.

"But in my vision, I felt that she was in trouble. Where is she now?"

The Earth King thought for a moment. "Well she met with the Council of Generals and since then she's been with your friends, the Kyoshi warriors."

Sokka seemed satisfied enough with this answer. "You see Aang? She's with Suki. They're probable back the apartment right now."

Aang decided to accept what they had said, but for some reason he still couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. "Okay. Maybe you're right".

The King could sense Aang's uneasiness and tried to reassure him.

"Believe me if there was any danger, Bosco's animal instincts would have sensed it."

They all looked at the very strange and rare looking bear, which was fast asleep beside the throne. For some reason this sight did not give Aang any further reassurance.

* * *

Katara was pacing up and down inside a large catacomb filled with bright green glowing crystals. In her mind she was trying to figure out what Zuko and Azula were doing and hoped that Aang and the others would be back soon.

She stopped her pacing when someone opened hole above her head and then threw someone else in with her, who rolled down at her feet. It was a moment before she realised who it was.

"Zuko" she exclaimed, now very anger that she was not stuck with the worst person imaginable.

* * *

The rest of the group had return to their apartment which was still being repaired after Toph decided to break the side of the wall. Aang rushed inside quickly to see if Katara was there. He had to find some sign that she was okay. When he opened the door he couldn't see anyone, except for Momo who ran up toward him and climbed onto his shoulder. Though he was glad to see Momo again, he had hoped to find Katara first.

"There's no one else here." said Toph. Both Aang and Sokka knew she was right, since her seismic sense had never failed before. If Katara really wasn't here, then there was only one solution that Aang could come to.

"She _is_ in trouble. I knew it" said Aang. He was just about to go the door and search for her when Toph spoke again.

"Wait! Someone's at the door" she said. At second later there was a knock at the door, confirming what Toph had said. "Actually I know who it is. It's an old friend of mine." She smiled and walked over to the door and opened it for her friend.

When she did open the door, the first thing that registered to Aang was surprise, followed by anger. It was Prince Zuko's Uncle, General Iroh. Sokka was equally shocked and took a fighting stance though Toph simply smiled and waved at him. If he was here then Zuko couldn't be far behind, but what he said next surprised Aang, all the more.

"I need you help".

"You guys know each other!" Aang asked incredulously.

"I met him in the woods once and knocked him down" she replied. "He gave me some tea and some really good advice".

"May I come in?" asked Iroh, very politely. Toph nodded, seemingly giving him permission to enter their apartment, while Aang was still uncertain what to make of all this. When he entered he turned to the rest of the group to speak.

"Princess Azula is here in Ba Sing Se" he said.

These words clicked in Aang's mind, as he remembered Azula, as the girl who attacked them in that abandoned village and when they tried to stop the drill.

"She must have Katara."

"She has captured my nephew as well" said Iroh. Aang now realised why he wanted their help.

"Then we'll work together to fight Azula and save Katara and Zuko".

"Whoa there!" said Sokka who stepped forward to Aang. "You lost me at Zuko". Aang thought this was strange since Zuko was the last thing he said, but understood what Sokka was trying to say. He didn't want to help Zuko anymore than Sokka, but knew that right now it was the best course of action.

"I know how you must feel about my nephew" said Iroh directly to Sokka, "but please believe me when I say that there is good inside of him".

"Good inside him isn't enough. Why don't you come back when it's outside him too?"

Aang sighed thinking this wasn't the time for arguing. Then had to stop Azula and they would have to deal with Zuko later.

"Katara's in trouble" Aang said to Sokka, hoping to appeal to his reasoning. "All of Ba Sing Se is. Working together right now is our best chance."

Sokka nodded, knowing that Aang was right, but was still not the least bit happy about helping their worst enemy.

"I brought along someone who might be able to help us" said Iroh. They followed him as he led them outside to Dai le agent that was bound and gagged, with two scars across his check. Toph pushed two pillars from the ground to either side of him, holding him in place and forcing him to stand. Iroh walked over to him and took out the gag. The agent was quick to speak, as if he was wanted to do so as soon as he saw them.

"Azual and Long Feng are plotting a coup! They're going to overthrow the Earth King"

"Where is my sister? Where are they keeping Katara?" Sokka asked with both force and urgency.

"In the Crystal Catacombs of old Ba Sing Se, deep beneath the palace" replied the scared agent.

With that knowledge the group and Iroh went in the direction of the palace to save the Earth King and Katara, leaving the Dai le agent stuck helplessly between the two pillars.

* * *

Long Feng sat in his cell mediating. Soon enough he would be free of this lowly prison and be able to restore proper order to Ba Sing Se, after of course he took care of the fire nation Princess. His second-in-command was standing outside his door informing him of all major developments.

"The movements of the five generals and the Earth King have been plotted out step-by-step."

Long Feng was satisfied that his plan was going perfectly. "And the Fire Nation Princess is being co-operative?" he asked.

"Oh yes" replied his second-in-command. "More than co-operative. She's really taken charge. She is both terrifying and inspirational at the same time. It's hard to explain."

Though Long Feng was slightly annoyed and curious at his most trusted agent's praise of the Princess, he simply brushed it off. Once he was free, he would see to it that the Princess would be out of the picture.

"Is there anything else I need to know?"

The second-in-command thought for a moment, wondering if he should mention the meeting with Tadao. Though he didn't know what had transpired in the cell, the Princess merely said he refused to help. The second-in-command didn't think that there was any need to tell Long Feng this, since nothing had happened and he knew it would greatly displease his leader.

"No, sir" he simply stated.

* * *

Zuko sat on the ground, with his back to the water tribe girl who was yelling at him. Zuko really didn't have the energy to argue with her and decided just to let her rant away.

"Why did they did throw you in here? Let me guess, it's a trap. So that when Aang come to rescue me, you can finally have him in your little Fire nation clutches!" Katara felt so much anger just being near him; she couldn't help but let it all out. She watched Zuko as he just sat, as if he wasn't even listening to what she was saying. This just made her angrier. It made her think that he didn't even care about what he's done in the past.

"You're a terrible person you know that! Always following us. Hunting the Avatar. Trying to capture the world's last hope for peace. But what do you care? You're the Fire Lord's son. Spreading war and violence and hatred is in your blood."

At this Zuko decided he had had enough. "Okay so you hate me. Big deal! So does everybody else in the world".

"How dare you?" she replied. He couldn't just brush her off like that. "You have no idea what this war has put me through. Me personally!" She sat down and held her mother's necklace as she began to cry. "The Fire Nation took my mother away from me"

When Zuko heard this, he suddenly felt a great deal of sympathy toward her, and to his surprise shame. He finally turned to face and said what he felt.

"I'm sorry. That's something we have in common."

Katara looked up at him, as she wiped her tears. She hadn't expected any kind of sympathy from Zuko.

"Just for the record" he added, "Ever since my Uncle helped you guys up at the North Pole, we've both been branded as traitors. We only came to Ba Sing Se to hide from the Fire Nation."

Katara was shocked to hear this. It actually made sense since it explained why he was here and why they hadn't seen him in such a long time. If he really did lose his mother in the war like she did, then maybe they weren't that different. Suddenly she wanted to hear more of his story.

* * *

The group now stood outside the palace on the other side of the courtyard. Toph put her hand to the ground to use her earthbending to see what was underground. She did this for several minutes before standing back up.

"There is an ancient city down there, but it's deep".

Sokka thought for a moment before speaking. "We should split up. Aang you go with Iroh to rescue Katara and the angry jerk. No offense" he added, clearly directing the last part at Iroh who simply shrugged his shoulders.

"None taken"

"And I'll go with Toph to warn the Earth King"

Aang and Iroh were now walking down the tunnel that Aang was creating with his earth bending, while Iroh held a bit of fire in his hand to light the way. Aang couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable walking with him, while Iroh was simply strolling as if he was walking in the park. Although this man was Zuko's uncle and the Fire Lord's brother, Aang didn't feel any real animosity against him, as he never really attacked him or his friends. He actually seemed like a very kind and light hearted old man compared to his ill-tempered nephew. Remembering what Toph had said about him, as well as his own predicament, Aang decided to break the ice.

"So Toph says you give pretty good advice and great tea".

"The key to both is proper aging" he said very wisely. "What's on your mind?"

They came up to the end of the tunnel, but Aang flicked his wrist to push the earth down and resumed walking.

"Well I met this guru who tried to teach me how to master the Avatar State and control this great power, but to do it I had to let go of someone I loved. And I just couldn't do it."

"Power and perfection are overrated" said Iroh. "I think you were wise to choose happiness and love instead."

Once again they came to the end of the tunnel and once again Aang flicked his wrist.

"But what will happen if we can't beat Azula and save everyone? What if I'm not strong enough without the Avatar State?"

Iroh closed his eyes and nodded, understanding Aang's concern.

"I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that. Sometimes life is like this dark tunnel. You can't always see the light at the end of it, but if you keep moving forward…."

They came to end of the tunnel again and Aang gave another flick of his wrist. The wall of the tunnel broke revealing a giant catacomb, filled with clusters of glowing green crystals and a small river coming from a waterfall.

"You'll come to a better place" he finished.

Aang was impressed both with the catacomb and Iroh's words of wisdom.

_He gives a lot better metaphors than Jeong Jeong._

* * *

Sokka, Toph and Momo reached the Earth King's throne room. Sokka sighed in relief as he saw that the Earth King had not been captured yet. What was better was that there were two Kyoshi warriors guarding him.

"Thank goodness were not too late!"

"Too late for what?" asked the King in confusion.

"Yeah too late for what" said one of the warriors who cartwheeled over to Sokka and moved very close to his face, "cutie?"

Sokka was flattered at being called cute, but was still confused as to why she was saying this to him.

"Um I'm kinda involved with Suki" he said trying to let her down gentle.

"Who?" she asked.

Toph, being blind was far more attuned at recognising people's voices, and then quickly guessed who the two warriors really were. She knocked the one who had jumped over to Sokka back with a slap of earth, but she simply flipped herself to the ground as she fell.

"Sokka there not real Kyoshi warriors" she said.

The King gasped in surprise at this revelation and looked over to the second one who pulled out some daggers from her sleeve and threw them at Toph. Though Toph couldn't see the projectiles while they were in the air, she guessed where they would come from based on her opponent's position and brought up another slap of stone as a shield. As Sokka watched this, the first girl jumped in front of him again. He quickly summarised that she must be Ty Lee after seeing her partner's display. He tried to keep his distance from her, careful not to let her jab him with her chi blocking technique.

As quickly as the fight began, it was over when Azula appeared holding a small flame to the Earth King's neck, forcing both Toph and Sokka to surrender. Ty Lee then jumped behind them and simultaneously chi blocked both of them and dragged them out of the throne room along with the Earth King.

Azula was slightly annoyed at their appearance, knowing full well that the Avatar couldn't be far behind, but put these thoughts out of her mind, as Long Feng walked up to the her, followed by a small legion of Dai Le agents.

"Now comes the part where I double cross you" said Long Feng, as if he was talking to a little school girl.

"Dai Le arrest the Fire nation Princess!" he commanded but the agents did not move. Long Feng looked back at them in disappointment. "I said arrest her! What's wrong with you?".

Azula smiled at Long Feng as he tried to assert what little authority he had left.

"It's because they haven't made up their minds yet. Their waiting to see how this is going to end" she stated.

"What are you talking about?" Long Feng demanded.

"I can see you whole history in your eyes. You were born with nothing, so you've had to struggle, and connive, and claw your way to power. But true power, the divine right to rule, is something you have to be born with. The fact is they don't know which one of us is going to be sitting on that throne, and which one is going to be bowing down. But I know, and you know.

Long Feng began to sweat and could do nothing but look on at Azula who was taking him apart. He watched as she just sat down in the throne. The throne he spent his whole life beside but never even sat down in. The Princess emanated such power and authority. He could see he was finished and simply bowed down to his new ruler.

"You've beaten me at my own game" he said.

"Oh don't flatter yourself" she replied. "You were never even a player".

Azula now looked up from Long Feng to the far end of the throne room.

"If you're here to help with the coup, I'm afraid you too late".

"No I was just enjoying your little show".

Long Feng gasped as he recognised that voice. He turned to see the source of it, to try and confirm it wasn't him, but he was wrong. Tadao was now walking forward to the Azula, as the Dai Le agents in front of him broke their formation and moved away in fear. Tadao walked right past Long Feng and stood with his back to him and front to the Princess. Long Feng now felt more fear than ever before. The Princess had actually freed him from his prison. She had no idea what she had done. It didn't matter how much sway the Princess had; no one could control Tadao.

Azula was pleased at his appearance. She begun to wonder if he had been able to escape with the stone she gave him. He clearly had the skill she was looking for.

"Well Tadao" she said, "all the pieces have come together. The only question left is, where do your loyalties lie?"

Tadao simply looked at her with an indifferent expression and then to Long Feng who was almost quaking in fear. He then folded his right arm above his stomach and bowed to Azula.

"With you, Mistress".

Long Feng couldn't believe what he had seen. _Had she broken him too?_

Azula smiled at Tadao's display, and a thought suddenly occurred to her.

"Thank you. Now that you're here, there is something I'd like to discuss. I need someone to be the head of the Dai Le and since Long Feng is clearly a poor choice, you wouldn't happen you know anyone more suitable?"

Tadao looked once again at Long Feng, the man who left him to rot in a cell for four years. Long Feng was now shaking in absolute terror. He saw a stream of sand falling out of Tadao's left sleeve. Before he could react or even run Tadao, whipped his arm around and struck at Long Feng with the sand.

* * *

Katara had just finished hearing Zuko's story. Now feeling a little guilty tried to make amends.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you before" she said.

"It doesn't matter".

"It's just that for a while now, when I thought about facing the enemy, I imagined your face."

At this Zuko pulled his hand up and touched his scar. Katara now regretted what she had said.

"Wait that's not what I meant…" she tried to explain.

"It's okay" he said. "I used to always think that this scar marked me. That it meant I had lost my honour and the only way I could get it back was to capture the Avatar. But lately, I've realized I'm free to choose my own destiny, even if I'll never be free of my mark."

Katara thought for a moment. "Maybe you could be free of it"

"What do you mean" he asked in confusion.

"I have healing abilities" she said. She wasn't sure why, but she suddenly felt a deep urge to try and help him.

Zuko just shook his head. "No, it's a scar. It can't be healed".

Katara pulled out the vial containing the spirit water. "This is water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole. It has special properties, so I've been saving it for something important."

Zuko consider what she had said. He was touched that she wanted to help like this and he would like to have been free of his scar. But he couldn't ask her to do this. It was only a scar. It didn't make him who he was. He understood that now.

Zuko held up his hand to decline her offer. "Thank you, but if it's really that special, then you shouldn't waste it on something trivial.

Katara was about to open her mouth to speak, when there was a loud crash from the wall. When the dust settled she saw Aang, as well as Zuko's uncle. She rushed over to him, grateful that he had come at last. Iroh did the same thing to Zuko, though neither of them noticed the angry glare Aang gave Zuko, who returned it in kind.

"Uncle what is the Avatar doing here?" Zuko whispered to Iroh, however it was still loud enough for Aang to hear.

"Saving you that's what" said Aang with a note of anger.

Zuko didn't take this too kindly and was about to step over to him, when Iroh held him back.

"Wait Zuko, it's time we talked" He looked over to Aang and Katara. "Go and help your friends". Once Aang and Katara had left,Zuko spoke again.

"What is it Uncle?" Zuko asked wanting to know what Uncle wanted to say.

"You're not the man you used to be, Zuko. You are stronger and wiser and freer than you have ever been. And now you have come to the crossroads of your destiny. It's time for you to choose. It's time for you to choose good".

Uncle yelped in surprise when a number of crystals sprouted from the ground trapping him. Zuko looked over to see Azula entering the cave with a pair of Dai le agents.

"I expected this kind of treachery from Uncle" she said. "But Zuko, Prince Zuko, you're a lot of things, but you're not a traitor, are you?"

Zuko was not in the mood for Azula's games. "Let him go" he said angrily.

"It's not too late for you, Zuko. You can still redeem yourself." Azula could tell that Zuko had indeed under gone some sort of change and decide that she may be able to use him.

Uncle spoke up from where he was held. "The kind of redemption she offers is not for you."

"Why don't you let him decide?" she said to her Uncle

Now she spoke once again to Zuko. "I need you, Zuko" she said in a kind of pleading manner. "I've plotted every move of this day, this glorious day in Fire Nation history, and the only way we win is together. At the end of this day, you will have your honour back. You will have Father's love. You will have everything you want."

Uncle now seemed desperate to try and get through to his nephew. "Zuko, I am begging you. Look into your heart and see what it is that you truly want."

Azula decide to leave him at that. She had to pursue the Avatar and she knew Zuko well. He would not turn down her offer.

"You are free to choose".

She took off down the tunnel the Avatar had escaped through while her agents went back up the way they came to summon reinforcements. Zuko now stood in the catacomb with so many thoughts running through his head, as he tried to figure out what to do.

* * *

Both Aang and Katara ran as fast as they could through the crystal catacombs. As they ran Aang informed Katara of what was transpiring with the Earth King.

"We've got to find Sokka and Toph" she said when he had finished. Aang nodded, knowing that they would need to regroup before making their next move. However they soon stopped when they heard a cackle of lighting as came from behind them. Aang reacted as fast as he could and pulled up a mound of stone to act as a shield. The lighting exploded on impact with the wall, which then collapsed, revealing Princess Azula standing at the entrance of the tunnel they had just come through.

Now it was Katara's turn to attack. She pulled the water from the stream beside them and threw it at Azula, who countered it by creating a wall of blue fire to evaporate the water. They now lost sight of her in the mist she had created, but soon found her again as she jumped out from a pillar of crystal and fired two shots of fire at them from above. This time together, Aang and Katara pulled more water from the stream used it as shield to absorb the flames. Azula finished her jump by landing on a pillar of stone, but Aang quickly used earthbending to pull in down before she had a chance to move again. Azula was momentarily caught off guard as the pillar began to crumble. She jumped off and landed right between Aang and Katara, pointing her two fingers at each of them.

All three of them remained still, waiting for someone to strike. Unfortunately someone else decide to strike first. Katara suddenly lost her balance as something grabbed her by the leg. Aang watch in shock as a stream of sand pulled Katara from underneath herself and threw her to the other said of the stream. He now turned to see who had done that. It was a young man with dark hair and was wearing a robe like the ones of the Dai Li. He stood with a pile of sand gathered at his feet now looking directly at Aang. He then sent another stream of sand at Aang who spun himself using airbending to block it.

* * *

Sokka, Toph and King Kuei had been thrown into one of the palace's metal jail cells. Sokka could see no way out of this, until someone came to help. Toph simply said that all they had to do was wait until the chi blocking had worn off and the coast was clear. Sokka didn't see how Toph could get them out without any earth to bend, until Toph told him the story of why they found her outside the city.

As usual Sokka was sceptical of this claim, preferring to confirm things with his own eyes. When the coast was clear, Sokka watched Toph with interest at what she was about to do. She stood facing the metal door, cracked her knuckles, griped the door and sure enough she was able to bend the metal and knock the it off its hinges. To say that Sokka was impressed would be an understatement, but there wasn't time for that now they had to find the others and get out of here. However the Earth King made his demands know before they left.

"I'm not leaving without Bosco!" he exclaimed.

Though he was a little annoyed at making a detour he decided it was for the best. They quickly made their way back to the throne room. Before entering Toph used her earthbending to sense who was inside. It was just Mai, Ty Lee and the bear. They saw Ty Lee trying to teach Bosco some tricks

"Come on its easy" she said. "You just walk on front paws instead of your rear ones" She then began to demonstrate the technique.

Not wanting to have her chi blocked again, Toph took advantage of this distraction and quickly encased Ty Lee's arms in stone and then her legs, while the bear clapped at this performance. Sokka and Toph now prepared themselves to fight with Mai who was just sitting there. She turned away and waved her hand.

"Just take the bear"

The King ran over to his beloved bear and hugged him. Now all four of them quickly made their leave form the palace.

* * *

Aang had no idea who this new enemy was, but Azula obviously did as she smiled at his arrival. She had jumped to over to fight Katara herself, while Aang continued his dual with the sandbender. The sandbender had spun his arms in a circle like motion, turning all the stone in a small radius beneath him into sand. He then began to stretch out the sand in an almost claw like manner in order to garb Aang, but Aang was able to jump back, trying to keep as much distance between them as he could. When he realised that he would have to eventually counter attack he bent the air currents around him and shot a human shaped gust of wind at his attacker.

Tadao was quick enough to push a large wave of sand upward to block the attack, but the two attacks exploded on each other, causing a cloud of dust to envelop Tadao, who tried to clear in order to find his opponent. Aang had already jumped into the air and shot another air blast at Tadao who narrowly moved out of the way. Aang landed closer to Tadao deciding to fight in close quarters, but this is what Tadao wanted. As soon as Aang landed in the sand, Tadao pulled it up over Aang in a dome like manner trying to crush him. When Aang realised his mistake, he sucked as much air as he could and blew himself directly upward and out of the dome.

_Who is this guy?_

Katara had been fairing a little better with her opponent. Azula had been able to dodge most of Katara's attacks, however even she wasn't nimble enough to avoid a fast diagonal wave of water which managed to cut a small strand of her hair.

Aang landed on one of the rock pillars covered in green crystals, but Tadao used the same trick Aang had done earlier and tried to make the pillar crumble. Aang, who was a much better jumper than Azula through his use of airbending was able to jump off the pillar in time and landed on a very thick stalactite. Feeling a bit frustrated Aang kicked down the stalactite and followed it, using his earth bending to increase the force of the impact. The stalactite crashed to ground, making a small earthquake and sending Tadao flying in the air, but he quickly recover and pulled up more sand to soften his landing. He looked at the huge crater Aang had made, but simply brushed some dust off his new robe.

"Pff, sloppy amateur" he stated, unimpressed with the Avatar's earthbending skills.

Katara pulled the water up her body encasing her in a kind of water armour to protect herself from Azula's blue flames. She extended the water to her arms, creating long tentacles that doubled as whips. Azula continued her assault, but Katara was able to capture her right arm in one of her tentacles, preventing her from producing any more fire. Azula pulled at the water, but to no avail. She then tried to attack Katara again with her left leg, but Katara trapped that in her second tentacle. Now both benders were locked together. Though Azula could not fight back, neither could Katara while holding her in place.

Tadao was the one to break this tie. While Aang tried to get back up after his attack, Tadao moved to help Azula by sending a wave of sand, similar to the one Katara had done earlier, with one hand to cut the tentacles holding Azula. At the same time he lifted up a small pile of sand from the ground using his other free hand and just before the tentacle broke he fired it at Katara, hitting her in the face. The sand went into her eyes and she was temporarily blinded. Once Azula was free she took advantage of this opportunity and sent a powerful blast of flame at Katara, who just barely able to hold her water long enough for it to act like a shield. The water couldn't absorb the force of the flame and she thrown back straight into a mound of crystal, her braid snapping open revealing her long brown hair and knocking her unconscious.

Aang groaned as he crawled out the crater, his clothes now slightly ripped and he was visibly exhausted from the amount of force he had endured from the impact. He knew that it wasn't the best move he could have done; it was too big and lacked precision, but it was all he could think to do in order to try and turn the tide of the fight. However he now saw that this fight was not in his favour. He saw Katara lying unconscious beside a mound of crystals, as Azula and the mysterious sandbender walked over to him, ready to continue.

_How I am I meant to take both of them on at the same time?_

As he prepared himself for the coming onslaught, all three benders were interrupted by a large blast of fire that exploded at the ground between Aang, and his opponents. All three heads turned to see the source of the fire. Aang suddenly felt a wave of hopelessness wash over him.

It was Zuko. He stood with one arm out stretched and the other pulled back, ready to fire again. The sleeves of his tunic had been ripped off, most likely to avoid being burned by any flames. As he slowly walked forward, Aang tried to figure out what to do next. It would have been hard enough to take on Azula with her new partner, but if Zuko joined the fight then he'd be a goner. He's only chance now would be to try and garb Katara and retreat.

Zuko just silently looked at Aang for a moment, then to Azula and finally to Tadao. The two of them stared at each other for a moment until Tadao's eyes slightly widened in shock when he realised what Zuko was about to do. Zuko fire another powerful blast at Tadao who pulled up a wall of sand to block. Zuko now stared fire multiple blast at Tadao who could nothing but hold his sand to defend himself. Aang couldn't believe his eyes. Zuko was _actually_ helping him. It seemed Azula was equally surprised. So much so that Aang took advantage of her shock to fire a gust of wind at her knocking her back.

Zuko started to grow frustrated at his lack progress at Tadao who was still able to hold his ground. In anger, Zuko summoned the strongest blast of fire he could and sent it straight toward Tadao, who didn't make any attempt to move. Instead he used his bending to lift up a large piece of crystal out of the ground and used it to block the attack. The crystal shattered from the explosion that followed, but this is what Tadao wanted. When the smoke cleared he walked out forward to face Zuko. He then levitated a small cluster of the crystal's fragments and fired them at Zuko. At first Zuko thought he could simple block the attack with his arms, but when they hit Zuko groaned in pain; not only were the crystals were hard and sharp, but the force at which had been hurled at him was incredible. Tadao soon began to send more fragments at Zuko, who tried to counter by making two whips of fire from his hands. He now tried to intercept the fragements as they came to him, but some were still able to graze his skin.

Aang and Azula were now facing each other in a standoff, each waiting for the other to make a move. Azula was the first to strike, generating two large blast of flames behind her and used them to propel herself toward Aang. Remembering his lessons with Toph, Aang decided to take her head on and pulled several crystals around him, encasing himself in crystal armour and charged forward. The Avatar and the Princess were charging at one another at full speed. Aang was hoping she would stop and try to avoid his attack. Only half his wish was fulfilled. Azula did indeed stop, but shot the flames she had built behind her straight to Aang, who braced himself, hoping his armour was strong enough. However it wasn't. It broke upon impact and he was thrown back straight into an old building.

Azual decided to return the favour to Tadao and join him in his attack on Zuko. She kicked two shots of fire at her brother who was knocked back trying to block the attack.

"Funny and here I thought you had changed" she said in a mocking tone.

Zuko stood back up ready to keep fighting.

"I have changed" was all he had left to say to his sister.

Katara slowly tried to get back up after that last attack. Her eyes still stung from the sand that had been hurled at her. She pulled a small drop of water to hand and used it to clean the sand and dirt from her face. When she finally could she again, she thought her vision had been damaged. She saw Zuko fighting against both Azula and the sandbender who blinded her, but she couldn't see Aang anywhere. She was about get up and help Zuko when she suddenly heard a loud rumble from the other side of the catacomb.

The others heard it as well. They looked to see Aang jumping out from where Azula had sent him flying earlier and was now earth surfing his way back to join the fight. However a Dai le agent appeared out of nowhere and used earth bending to knock Aang off his surf. Both Katara and Zuko looked up as more Dai Le agents began to fill the catacomb from above. Most of them circled Katara, who pulled as much water as she could from the stream and made a circle around herself. She then created eight tentacles from the water circle and prepared herself for any attack.

Aang quickly got back up and took a fighting stance, but began to lose hope when he noticed Katara had been surrounded. He also saw some more agents advancing on Zuko. He now looked at Azula and the sandbender who looked like they could have kept going all day, while he was already worn out. It was then he finally realised the direness of the situation.

"There's too many of them"

Aang didn't know what else to do. They were outnumbered and he wasn't strong enough. He looked once again at Katara who needed his help. He grimaced in pain as he finally accepted what he had to do.

_The only way is to let her go._

He pulled up some crystal around himself to make himself a small tent. He sat down inside of it and tried to finish opening his chakras as fast as he could. In his mind he could see the vision of the Avatar Spirit holding him in an airbending sphere. Aang could the feel the incredible cosmic energy flowing into him. The combined strength of all the past Avatars was almost overwhelming, but this time it felt different. He was aware of what he was doing and now believed more than ever that he could control this amazing power.

Tadao now led the Dai Le agents over to the glowing crystal shelter preparing to attack, but the crystal began to crack and break open, revealing the Avatar, his eyes and tattoos now glowing as he slowly levitated into the air. All eyes were now on him as he rose higher into the air. Zuko looked up at Aang in amazement at his new found power, while Katara looked at him with eyes full of pride at how far he had come.

Aang was now ready to strike, however he suddenly felt another jolt of energy enter his body. It was different than the energy he already felt. It was spreading through his entire body, making it go numb. For some reason, he could feel the Avatar Spirit becoming weaker, until it just let go of him completely and the only thing Aang could feel anymore was a terrible sensation of falling.

Katara's eyes were now filled with tears as she watched Aang fall to the ground. Zuko looked over to see Azula with left arm extended and a cruel smile on her face after striking the Avatar in the back with her lighting. Just as Aang was about to hit the ground, Katara used the water she gathered for the octopus technique to create a small tidal wave that she rode to catch Aang. The wave washed over the surrounding Dai Le agents, including Tadao. Katara held Aang's motionless body in her arms, and then looked up to see Zuko running toward them. Zuko wanted to ask if Aang was alive or dead, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. When he saw the agents start to recover, he adopted a fighting stance between them and Katara, ready to keep defending her and Aang.

As the agents, including Azula and Tadao began to move in, they were once again interrupted by another fire blast. This time it had come from Iroh, who somehow escaped his imprisonment and jumped down to them. He now stood in front of the others, sending more balls of fire at agents.

"You've got to get out of here" he yelled. "I'll hold them off for as long as I can."

Katara didn't hesitant for a minute while Iroh covered them. She picked up Aang and ran, but Zuko was unwilling to leave his Uncle. Iroh glanced back to see Zuko hadn't moved.

"Zuko! You have to go!"

"Zuko please" Katara pleaded. "There's nothing else we can do"

Zuko was anger at leaving Uncle behind, but knew he had no choice. He turned and ran to Katara who was standing beside the water fall. She passed Aang's body over to him while she used her waterbending to lift them up through the waterfall. When Iroh saw that they had escaped, he ceased his attack and let the Dai Li encase him in crystal once again. However he smiled to himself satisfied that his nephew was safe and knew he was with people who would look after him.

* * *

Sokka spotted Katara as she came out into the courtyard. Once they called Appa they had been circling the palace ever since, waiting for Aang and Katara to show up. When they descended to pick them up, Sokka looked at his sister in concern.

"Katara are you alright?" he asked.

It was then he noticed that she carrying Aang, who was clearly injured.

"What happened to Aang?"

Then finally, he noticed Zuko had followed her out.

"And what's he doing here!" he asked angrily.

"He's coming with us" Katara replied as she climbed up Appa, while still holding Aang.

Sokka thought he heard wrong. He looked his sister with a blank expression. "You're kidding right?"

Katara made it clear that she was not kidding, when she turned to him with a very angry look.

"No I'm not kidding!" she yelled. "Aang is hurt and the Dai Le are on their way. Now let him on!"

Sokka was taken back by her outburst, but still held an unhappy look on his face as he watched Zuko climb up on to Appa's bare back and sit himself between Toph and the former Earth King. Once Katara had moved Aang to Appa's head they flew off. After examing the severity of Aang's injuries, Katara reasiled she couldn't heal him, but then remembered the spirit water. It was their last hope. She pulled it out and held it in her hand. It soon began to glow when she used her bending. She placed it on the scar on Aang's back, where the lighting had struck. It kept glowing as it seeped into the wound, but nothing else happened. When Aang still didn't move or show any sign of life, she broke into tears and held on to his body as tight as she could.

The others looked away and remained slient, thinking their friend was gone. Even Zuko held his head in mourning. None of them noticed the faint glow of Aang's tattoos, until they heard Aang groan in pain. At this sound Katara let him go and looked directly at him. He looked up at her beautiful face and smiled at her. She returned his smile and hugged him again, thankful he was alive.

* * *

Back inside the palace throne room, Azula now sat in the King's throne, revealing in her victory over her brother, the Avatar and the Earth Kingdom, with Tadao standing by her side with his arms folded behind his back.

"We have done it" she said to him. "It has taken a hundred years but the Fire Nation has conquered Ba Sing Se. And I couldn't have done it without your help Tadao." She turned to her newest and most deadly ally, who just stared out into space.

"I didn't really have a choice. I owned you for freeing me, but then again that was your plan all along wasn't it?" he said while still not looking her.

"It was" she said without a hint of modesty.

"So what are you going to do with me?" he asked with his usual indifferent tone. "Put me back in my cell?"

"Oh I wouldn't dream of it. You are far too valuable of a person to be left locked up" She now stood up and walked over to him. "Come back with me to the Fire Nation and you can become a servant to the royal family. I will insure my father will give you everything you deserve. You shall be welcomed there as a hero!"

She put her hand on his shoulder. "Well, what do you say?"

He turned to look at her and then back out to the front of the throne room and lightly shrugged his shoulders. "Sure. Why not?"

* * *

When the Appa finally made it passed the inner wall, Kuei looked back at his former kingdom in sadness.

"The Earth Kingdom….has fallen" he said gravely.

Katara sat with the now unconscious Aang in her arms, as she and the rest of the group looked up at the horizon, facing an uncertain future.

* * *

So thats it let me know what you think. PS i accept anonymous reviews.


	3. The Awakening

Okay so heres the next chapter.

* * *

The Awakening

Aang slowly opened his eyes, as he woke from a strange dream involving Roku and the other past avatars. He wondered for a moment if it was really a dream, but those thoughts quickly subsided when he sat up and grimaced in pain as he clutched his side. He studied himself and saw that he was covered in bandages. He felt dizzy, his head was pounding and nearly every part of his body was screaming in agony. He never had been in so much pain all at once.

"What happened?" he said trying to gather his thoughts, but when he started to look around only more confusion and now fear set in. He was in what looked like a large mental room, filled with unmistakable fire nation characteristics. Aang's fears only worsened when turned to see the large flame emblem hanging over his bed.

He didn't have time to figure out what happened. All he could think about was getting out of this room and finding his friends. He grabbed his staff and used it to support himself as felt he like he was about to collapse as soon as he got out of his bed.

He opened the door as slowly as possible, as to not make any loud noises. He moved as quickly and as quietly as possible through the metal hallway, now more sure than ever that he was on a fire nation ship. As he was moving he started to realise his body wouldn't obey him any longer and he had to lean against the wall just to stay standing.

He peered around the corner and saw two guards talking, one of them very large and the other quite small in comparison.

"You hear something?" asked the big one.

Aang ducked back behind the wall. Realizing there was no way to sneak past them, he used what little strength he had to step out, quickly spin his staff in his hands and then send a blast of air to knock them back. He then started to run as fast as his body would let him. Both guards quickly recovered and gave chase to him telling to stop.

Aang couldn't go on much longer; if he could just make it outside he would be able to fly away. As he found a flight of stairs, he began to climb, but fell just as he made it outside. Aang's staff fell out of his hands and slid across the deck of the ship landing at the feet of two men in fire nation armour. It took a second for his brain to register what he was seeing but there was no mistake about who else was there.

"Momo?" he asked with uncertainty.

At the mention of his name, the flying lemur flew over to Aang's shoulder and licked his face in affection. Katara and Toph rush over to Aang, wearing dark cloaks over their usual cloths that we slight ripped and burned.

"Twinkle Toes that's got to be you!" said Toph.

"Aang you're finally awake" said Katara'

"Are you sure?" said Aang as he rubbed his eyes. "It feels like I'm dreaming".

Katara embraced him in hug. "You're not dreaming, Aang, your back!"

A fire nation guard came over and gave Aang another hug. "Aang, good to see you amongst the living again buddy!"Aang stared at the guard for a few seconds. _That voice? It couldn't be_.

"Sokka?" he said, uncertain if that was really his friend. What is he wearing?

The biggest shock of all however came when none other than Prince Zuko walked forward and just gave Aang a kind of awkward wave of his hand.

"Umm….hi" was all he could say.

And with that, Aang started to pant heavily and just passed out from a combination of his fatigue and the number of surprise that he had since he woke up. The last he heard before hitting the floor of the deck was Toph telling someone to catch him.

* * *

Once Aang had woken up again, Katara placed a blanket over him to protect him from the cold night air. Aang was still trying to piece together what was going on. The last thing he remembered was the battle in the underground catacombs back at Ba Sing Se, but everything after that was a blur. Now he was sitting on a Fire Nation ship in the middle of the ocean, with all his friends dressed up like Fire Nation soldiers.

"What's going on?" he asked Katara who had say down in front of him. "Why are you all dressed like this? Why I'm I the only one out of it." He then looked over at Zuko who was standing near the railing of the ship, looking out to the ocean. "And why is _he_ here?" he asked this time with a much more annoyed tone. Zuko glanced at Aang over his shoulder, indicating he could hear them perfectly.

"Aang, Zuko's with us now. He helped us back at Ba Sing Se remember?" said Katara.

This Aang did remember, but to him it did not justify why Zuko was with them. He could recall a time when Zuko decided to help Aang before only to attack him later. For now he decided to forget the matter since he still had some unanswered questions to ask.

"Yeah. He was a really big help wasn't he" Aang muttered with mixture of sarcasm and anger in his voice. Katara looked at Aang with concern, not wanting him to overexert himself when he had only just begun to recover.

"Aang please you need to rest. You were hurt pretty badly." she said. She took another look at his head and smiled. "I like your hair". It only just occurred to her that she had never seen him with a full head of hair and often wondered what he would look like.

"I have hair?" Aang exclaimed in surprise. He pulled his hands up to his head to verify what she had said. He always shaved his head as often as he could, since it was an Air Nomad custom. After feeling the length of his hair, he guessed that it hadn't been cut since he got knock out.

"How long was I out" he asked.

"A few weeks" Katara replied.

One of the men in uniforms that Aang saw when he got out to the deck walked over to them. He had taken his helmet off and Aang could tell he definitely was not a Fire Nation solder, due to his darker skin colour and hair. For some reason he looked vaguely familiar to Aang.

"Are two alright over here?" he asked.

Katara turned her head away from him and then gave him a curt and annoyed reply.

"We're fine Dad". Aang blinked for a moment after hearing the last word she said.

The man saw Aang's confused expression and decided to introduce himself properly to the Avatar.

"I'm Hakoda, Sokka and Katara's father"

"Yeah he knows already. I just called Dad didn't I?" said Katara in an angry tone of voice, as if she didn't want her own father to speak with Aang. However Aang was quite eager to meet Hakoda after hearing so much about him from Sokka and Katara.

"It's an honour to finally meet you Chief Hakoda" said Aang respectfully extending hand to Hakoda in a gesture of friendship. Hakoda returned the gesture.

"The honour is mine Avatar Aang" he replied, addressing Aang by his full title.

"Okay fine you've meet, now will give us some privacy?" said Katara once again in a rather annoyed tone at her father, as well as giving him an angry glare.

Hakoda seemed to be saddened by his daughter's words, but did not respond to her in kind.

"Of course Katara" he said and left.

Aang couldn't help but think Katara was not very happy to be reunited with her father, though why she was upset with him Aang didn't know. Sokka had been nervous about seeing him again when Aang took him to Chameleon Bay, but otherwise he seemed glad to have been back with his dad after so long apart.

"Did you get into a fight with Dad about something?" he asked her.

"What? No. Why would you say that?" she asked, surprised by his question.

Aang simply shrugged when he couldn't think of how to reply, but as soon as he did he once again felt pain all over his body. Now he understood why Katara didn't what him to exert himself too much. When she saw him in pain, she moved over to support him.

"Let's go back inside and I'll give you another healing session" she said.

* * *

Aang sat on his bed, his back to Katara who pulled some water on to her hands. She now began to massage the scar on his back to relieve him of some of his pain. To Aang it felt slightly uncomfortable when she began the healing, which was strange. Normally whenever she had healed him of any injury or burn it felt quite pleasant as the pain subsided. Katara noticed him tensing as she began the session and tried to go slowly as to not cause him any further stress.

"I can feel a lot of your energy twisted up in back" she explained. "It feels like it's all blocked up. It's still going to take a while for you to fully heal, but I don't know if I can remove the blockage."

As she said this she began to pull the water from his back. When she did Aang's body contorted backward as he felt a small jolt of energy in his body. When he felt this jolt spread through his body he suddenly flashed back to what had happened in the catacombs. He was in the Avatar State but he had been struck in the back by Azula with lighting. He then remembered seeing Katara on Appa's back healing him. After that he now realised what really did happen to him.

"I was gone" he said, panting heavily from the release of energy. "I didn't just get hurt. I almost died, but you brought me back". He turned to look at her, more grateful than ever for her friendship.

"I just used the Sprit water from the Oasis" she said. "I didn't even know if it would work."

"It did work" he said and he was happy it did. Not because he was alive but because he didn't die. He closed his eyes as he remembered what Avatar Roku warned him about. He if died while he was in the Avatar State, then the Avatar Spirit would just be gone forever. As he held his head down counting himself lucky, Katara put her hand on his cheek and held his face for a minute. He opened his eyes to meet her gaze.

"You should rest" she finally said.

* * *

Aang woke up late in the morning after the healing session. He now sat on the deck of the ship, eating breakfast with the rest of the group, Hakoda, Bato and to his annoyance Zuko who sat down beside Katara. Though Aang was unhappy about Zuko being there, he did his best to ignore him and listened to Sokka who explained what happened after the left Ba Sing Se.

"We had to find somewhere safe to hide, while you recovered. We decide to go back to Chameleon Bay to my Dad and the rest of the Water Tribe warriors. The Earth King decided he wanted to see more the world, so he left with Bosco".

"After that some Fire Nation ships came to the bay, so we captured one and used it as a disguise" added Zuko.

Sokka was annoyed that Zuko had interrupted him, but was far more annoyed that he decided to talk. He gave him a dark look before he resumed speaking.

"Yeah…well anyway we started traveling west out to the ocean where we'd be less likely to run into any more Fire nation ships. We also crossed the Serpent's Pass a few days ago."

Aang was glad to be brought back into the loop after being gone for so long, but still had another important question to ask.

"So what now?"

Hakoda was the one to answer. "We've been working on a modified version of the invasion plan".

"It's Sokka's invasion plan" interjected Katara at her father, still with an angry tone.

Once again Hakoda seemed disturbed by Katara's attitude but didn't question her about it. "Right, Sokka's plan. We can't launch a massive invasion without the Earth King's armies, but the solar eclipse will still leave the Fire Nation vulnerable".

"So we gonna launch a smaller invasion" said Sokka. "Just a ragtag team of our friends and allies from around the Earth Kingdom. We already ran into Pipsqueak and the Duke."

Aang looked over to the two former freedom fighters that he now realised were the same guards he knocked down earlier. The Duke was sitting on Pipsqueak's shoulders as they ate their rice.

"Nice to see you again Aang" said Pipsqueak, who clearly did not hold any grudge about what happened last night.

"And here's the best part" said Sokka who now looked almost ecstatic. "The eclipse isn't our only advantage". He now dropped his voice to a whisper. "We have a secret; you!"

"Me?" said Aang, falling to grasp what Sokka was getting at.

"Yep the whole world thinks you're dead" he simply stated. He then stood arm with arms in the air, happier than ever. "Isn't that great!" As usual Sokka showed off his lack of understanding when it came to a person's emotional state, evident by the fact he completely ignored the look of shock and horror on Aang's face.

Aang now stood up and moved over to the railing of the ship feeling like he would be sick.

"Everyone thinks I'm dead?" he said. "How can that possible be good news!"

"Because it means the Fire Nation won't be hunting us anymore" answered Sokka. "And they won't be expecting you on the Day of Black Sun!" This however did not make Aang feel any better.

"No, no no no" he said. "You don't understand, this is terrible!" He put his head in his hands, feeling so angry and frustrated at what was happening. This time Katara tried to help him calm down.

"Aang there is some other good news. Zuko's going to be your Firebending teacher" she said, gesturing to Zuko who was still sitting.

"He is?" Aang asked in surprise.

"I am?" said Zuko, who was equally surprised.

"He WHAT!" yelled Sokka who almost fell down in shock.

Before Aang or Sokka could voice their objections to Katara's statement, everyone on the ship heard a horn coming from another Fire Nation ship that was coming up on them from the open water. Aang suddenly felt invigorated from the sight of the ship. He now had a chance to show the world that the Avatar was not dead.

"I'll handle this" he said as he opened his staff, ready to fight. However he once again fell victim to the pain of his injuries and clutched his body. Katara rushed over to help him.

"Aang just wait a minute they don't know were not Fire Nation and besides you're in no condition to fight" she said.

Upon hearing her words Aang reluctantly put away his glider and allowed Katara to lead him over to a square hole, along with Sokka, Toph and Zuko. Appa was moved into another hole, as Pipsqueak and the Duke placed a large tarp over him making him look like a big piece of cargo.

Hakoda and Bato put their helmets back on to resume their disguise and waited for the other ship's captain to board. The second ship's captain, as well as two guards walked along the metal blank that his crew had placed between the two ships when they were close enough to each other. They moved up to Hakoda and Bato, while Aang and the others kept their heads down so that they wouldn't be spotted, but found it hard to hear what they were saying.

"Commander, why are you off course?" he spoke to Hakoda. "All Western Fleet ships are supposed to be moving toward Ba Sing Se to support the occupation"

Thinking quickly Hakoda tried to come up with a convicting lie. "Actually, we're from the Eastern Fleet. We have orders to deliver some cargo".

The second ship's captain mauled this over for a minute, but seemed to believe it. "I see. The Eastern Fleet. Well, nice of Admiral Chan to let us know he was sending one of his ships our way" he said with some annoyance.

"I'm sure Admiral Chan meant no disrespect, sir" said Bato trying to help maintain the lie.

"I mean, how hard is it to write a quick note and send a hawk our way?" commented the captain. It soon became obvious that he liked to complain. Hakoda decided to try and appease him as to not prolong his stay.

"Next time, we'll send two hawks to make sure you get the message" said Hakoda. Both he and Bato gave the standard bow of respect to the captain who returned it in kind and made their exit. Once Hakoda and Bato had left, one of the captain's guards whispered something to him, so that no one else would hear.

"Sir, Admiral Chan has been on leave for two months at Ember Island".

"What? Why doesn't anyone ever tell me these things?" he said to his guard, who simply shrugged his shoulders, unable to answer. The captain now looked over some the crew on the deck of the ship, while thinking on what his guard had just told him

"Something's not right; they should have known that. I think this is a captured ship. Just stay quiet until we're safely across the ramp. Then we'll sink this ship". The captain smiled as he crossed the ramp as he thought that no one on the captured vessel would suspect anything until it was too late. However one person did know. Toph, who couldn't see anything that was happening, made sure to hear everything instead. She heard the captain's plan and acted before he did.

"They know!" she shouted to everyone, as she jumped out of their hiding place and grips the metal floor beneath her, bending the metal in a straight line toward the ramp and knocking it along with the captain and his two guards into the water below. Katara reacted just as fast and once the ramp was gone, moved up to the edge of the ship and pulled a large wave of water upward between the two ships. She then pushed the wave off the enemy ship to knock it back and to give them some distance from it. As soon as the second ship's crew pulled their captain out of the water, he gave the order to follow the captured ship and begin firing on them.

The second ship quickly started to hurl flaming stones at them using their catapults. Since their own catapult was on the front of the ship, Sokka and the others knew they would have to turn around and face the enemy ship on, which would be suicide. So they turned Toph into a catapult instead. She took an earthbending stance while, Pipsqueak placed a large stone in front of her and the Duke stood behind her to point her in the right direction. She was able to fire the stones into the air, intercepting the fireballs and managing to destroy one the enemy ships catapults.

Despite taking some hits, the enemy ship continued to pursue until they were close enough that they fired a spear into the hull of the ship. It left a huge hole under the side of the ship allowing water to seep in. Katara saw this and deduced that their plan was either to way the ship down or let it over turn with the water. Moving to the edge of the ship were the hole was, she blew a stream of cold air down to the water, freezing it around the hole

"We won't be able to outrun them" Zuko called to the others. "Their ship is just as fast as ours".

Thinking on what Zuko said, Katara decided to give them some cover and turned as much of the water around them as she could into mist, that would hopefully buy them some time to get away. Unfortunately luck was not on their side, as somehow one of the fireballs was able to hit them even in the fog. What made it worse was the fact that it hit directly on the pile of rocks that Toph had been using. Now they were left without any ammunition and they would soon be leaving the fog cover making them even more vulnerable.

This was all that Aang could take. Once they had been discovered, Sokka pulled him inside the ship so that he wouldn't be seen, but now he was struggling to get back out there.

"Let me go. I have to do something" he said, as Sokka was trying to hold him back.

"Aang please, just let us handle it for now" said Sokka, hoping to stop Aang from doing something stupid or dangerous. With much reluctance, Aang ceased his struggling and stayed inside the ship, while Sokka ran out to the others. They were out of the fog, but the enemy ship was now closing up on them fast. They were close enough now that Zuko was able to shot several blasts of fire at the enemy crew, who were manning the catapults, but other members of the crew were able to block his attacks to cover those on the catapults. Another fireball hit the side of the ship, letting some of it on fire. Katara was able to put it out, but was now starting to feel heavily fatigued from all her waterbending.

"How are we doing?" asked Toph who was unsure what was happening.

"Things couldn't get much worse" replied Sokka, as the situation was starting to look grim. Now he wished Aang could help them.

Suddenly everyone on the ship became startled when something very big emerged from the side of the ship. Sokka now had a terrible feeling as he heard familiar roar from behind him, He turned to see that the serpent from the Serpent's Pass had risen out of the water and was looking as ferocious as ever.

"The universe just loves proving me wrong, doesn't it?" said Sokka, as the situation was indeed worse.

"You make it too easy!" said Toph, maintaining her sense of humour.

When it looked like the serpent was about to attack, one of the enemy ship's fireballs hit it in the face. The serpent now turned its attention to the enemy ship. Sokka and the others just looked on as the serpent began to wrap itself around the enemy ship, while its crew desperately fought back against it.

"Thank you, the universe!" said Sokka gratefully while bowing, praying he would not invite anymore bad luck on them.

* * *

Aang was back inside his room lying on his bed, mauling over the day's events in his mind. By sundown they managed to find a small port to dock at, in order to resupply and try to assess some of the damage done to the ship. Aang didn't feel like being a part of any of it. He really just wanted to fall back asleep and pretend that the last few weeks were just a dream. The door to his room opened and revealing the Katara, Sokka and Toph who walked in together.

"Hey Aang!" said Toph. "We're going into town to get some dinner"

Aang moved his hand to his stomach, remembering how hungry he really was, after being asleep for two weeks. "Well, I am pretty hungry. I guess dinner would be a good idea".

Sokka moved forward and held a long bandage in his hand. "Here wear this around you head. It will cover your arrow."

Though Aang's new hair now covered most of his tattoos his arrow was still visible on his forehead. He looked at the headband Sokka asked him to wear and swatted it away with his hand, refusing put it on.

"I'm not going outside if I can't wear my arrow proudly"

"Aang come on, be practical" said Sokka. He didn't understand why Aang was it such a bad mood or why he didn't like be kept secret. To Sokka he knew it had to be done in order to ensure the success of the invasion. Katara however decided that she should talk to Aang instead and asked Toph and Sokka to go ahead without them.

Once she was alone with Aang she spoke again. "I think I understand why you don't want to be kept secret. You don't want people to think you failed."

Aang turned away from her and hung his head down. "Your right, but the problem is I did fail! I was right there at Ba Sing Se. I could have saved everyone, but I failed. Now the Earth kingdom has fallen. The Fire Nation won the war." He had never felt like such a failure in his entire life.

Katara however did not see him as one and refused to let him beat himself up like this. "Aang they haven't won yet. We have a plan. We have the invasion and you have Zuko as your firebending teacher now". These words let a fire in Aang's head.

"And I hate the invasion" he yelled, turning to face her with an anger expression. He grabbed the Fire Nation banner that was above his bed and ripped it down. "And I don't want Zuko as my teacher either! I don't want you or anyone else risking your lives to fix my mistakes and I refuse to ask _him_ for help!" He turned away from her again feeling a suddenly realisation drawing on to him.

"I've always known that I would have to face the Fire Lord" he said. "But now I know I need to do it alone".

"Aang…." she said, completely shocked by his outburst and now wanting to try and help him more than ever. However Aang didn't want to hear any more from her.

"Just go!" he demanded. "Please".

Katara got up and decide to leave him, but before she opened the door she looked at him one more time. "Is there anything you need?"

"I need to redeem myself" he replied. "I need my honour back". When Katara closed the door, she couldn't help but think that Aang now reminded her of a certain someone and decide to ask them to help Aang through this.

* * *

_Five minutes earlier_

Katara, Toph and Sokka walked through the interior of the ship, intent on asking Aang to join them for dinner.

"I hope he's in a better mood than he was this morning" said Toph.

Sokka simply waved his hand at her comment. "Trust me he'll be fine. All he really needs is some fine cooking to get him back on feet".

"You know we could ask Zuko if he'd like to join us" said Katara.

"We could, but we're not going to" Sokka said rather dismissively.

"Sokka come on, would it kill you to just try to be friendly to him?" asked Katara, annoyed at her brother's constant coldness about Zuko. He had been like this ever since Ba Sing Se, shooting down any opportunity to get to know Zuko.

Sokka stopped walking and crossed his arms at her comment. "You know it might actually kill me. Have ever thought of that?" he asked his sister with suspicious expression.

"No! Of course not" replied Katara. "Zuko's changed. He's on our side now"

Sokka threw his arms into the air and suddenly made some impressions as he spoke. "Oh right so we should all give him a big hug and just invite him into our group". Katara hated it when Sokka used sarcasm; as he did it better than anyone else possible could.

"Look Sokka, I know you don't like it, but he _is_ part of the group now. Aang has to learn firebending and no one else is going to teach him".

"What?" he exclaimed. "You can't just decide for him to be a part of Team Avatar, without even consulting the rest of us first."

"Um guys?" said Toph.

"Why is this such a big deal to you?" Katara asked her brother ignoring Toph, her anger quickly rising.

"Because after everything he's done in the past do really think he's trustworthy?" replied Sokka.

Katara sighed at her brother's stubbornness. She knew how he felt, she felt the same way when she saw Zuko again back at Ba Sing Se, but he had already proven himself to her.

"Look Sokka, if it weren't for him Aang and I probably wouldn't have made it out of Ba Sing Se. We owe him our lives. He saved us".

"Uh guys?" Toph said a little more urgently this time.

"Yeah this time" said Sokka to Katara, "But how do we know he's not going to turn on us again when are backs are turned. We don't even know why he's helping us!"

"He's helping us because he's _changed_" said Katara putting an anger emphasis on the last word.

"Guys!" Toph now yelled at them.

"What?" they both yelled as they turned to look at her, but soon looked past her to see that Zuko was standing right down the corridor. Neither Katara nor Sokka had seen him approach while they were arguing. He simply looked at them with a kind of stiff and glum expression, making it hard to tell how much he had heard.

"I was just going out for some air" he said and walked past them without a backward glance.

As Katara watched him go, she now felt guilty for talking about him like that behind his back. She gave Sokka an anger look, but he merely put on a confused expression on his face, clearly not upset about what had transpired.

"What?" he said. Katara simple walked away from him down to Aang's room, leaving Sokka alone with Toph. "What?" he asked again, but Toph just shook her head and followed Katara. Sokka soon followed them both with an unhappy expression.

* * *

After Katara left Aang she found Zuko out on the deck of the ship. He was leaning on the side, looking down into water below and lost in his own thoughts. He had been doing that a lot since they got on the ship. He sensed Katara as she approached and spoke first.

"It you're here to invite me out to dinner, I'm not hungry".

"No it's not that" she said. "And I'm sorry about before, about Sokka…I mean about what we were both saying about you." She moved closer to him, and stood beside him on the railing.

"It's okay" he said. He looked out to the town they had docked at. "He's right about me you know".

"Who? Sokka?" she asked. "Don't listen to him. He just needs time to see that we can trust you."

"No not that. About you not knowing why I'm helping you and the truth is, I'm not really sure myself. Back in Ba Sing Se, Azula offered me the chance to help her and if I did I would have gained everything I could ever have wanted. My throne, my honour, my father's love."

Katara was now very intrigued by his revelation and wanted to learn more.

"So why didn't you?" she asked.

Zuko sighed in frustration and moved away from her. "I don't know okay! I just thought that…Well it didn't feel right anymore" he finally said. He put his hands on the railing and gripped it tightly. "Today when I helped you guys against that Fire nation ship, it felt like when I was back in Ba Sing Se. It felt like I was betraying my country, but at the same time…..it didn't feel completely wrong".

Katara placed her hand on his shoulder, now understanding what was bothering him and wanting to help him get through it.

"Zuko you did what you thought was right" she said. "And that is the most important thing you can do. I know it must be confusing for you right now, but we could really use your help. Aang is in a pretty bad place after what happened to him. He thinks that he's a failure and that he has to restore his honour".

These words seemed to strike at Zuko's mind and he began to feel a stronger connection to the Avatar now than ever before. "I know what that's like".

"That's why I came to you" she said. "Aang needs your help like he needs the rest of use. So could please try to talk to him for me?"

Zuko looked at her hopeful face, wondering if he should agree. He finally let out a sigh of defeat and looked over the railing once again. "Okay I'll a word with him".

* * *

Aang was roused from his sleep when he heard the door creak open. He got up with his back to the door, before slowly turning around.

"Look Katara, I just want to be alone right now, so could you just…" He cut himself when he saw that it wasn't Katara at the door, it was Zuko. As soon as Aang saw him, he suddenly became very angry once again. After everything that had happened today the last thing he wanted was to talk to Zuko. Aang turned away from him after giving him a hateful glare. Zuko however tried to put on a pleasant demeanour and smiled at him.

"Uh hi, Zuko here" he said, raising his hand in a feeble attempt to be friendly.

"What do you want?" Aang asked, now using most of his pent up frustration as he spoke.

"Uh Katara thought you weren't doing too well and that…maybe…I could ….um….help you out a bit" he said, unsure of how best to proceed.

Aang now felt angry at Katara for actually asking Zuko to speak with him. He was not going stoop so low that he needed to get help from the guy who hunted him all over the world.

"Yeah, well I'm fine, so you can just leave me alone!" he replied wanting him would go away.

"You're not fine" Zuko said, now with more assertion. "Katara told me what you said to her. Believe me I get how you're feeling. You're angry at yourself and at your situation. I felt the same way when I got banished. I know what it's like to lose your honour".

This didn't help Aang to calm down. In fact it probable made him even angrier, because he did not want to feel in any way related to Zuko. He now stood up and marched over to him, ignoring his fatigue and staring him down.

"Yeah and then you went and started following me all across the world!" he said, feeling very good about taking his anger out on someone who had earned it. "Not mention how you had us attacked by pirates or when you burned down Kyoshi Island or when you sent that bounty hunter after us!"

Zuko seemed to show some sign of regret as he listened to Aang's rant, but stood his ground. "Look I did what I thought I had to do back then, to try and get my honour back." he said trying to defend himself. " I didn't have a choice. I would think you'd understand that now."

"_You_ don't understand!" Aang said pointing his finger at Zuko's chest. "We are _not_ the same! Because you never did capture me so you never got your honour back! So you can't understand what I'm going through".

Zuko was now visibly angry at what Aang had said, when he was the one who had come to try and help him, and now looked as though he wanted to fight. Aang was more than happy to oblige and gripped his staff, ready to settle this. Zuko moved closer to him, clenching his hands tightly, and staring at him directly in the face, almost nose to nose. They both stood facing one another for a long minute, until Zuko broke the standoff and stood back.

"At least when I lost my honour, I didn't just sit around feeling sorry for myself. You want _your_ honour back then go out and get". Zuko turned his back to Aang, as he opened the door and slammed it as hard as he could on his way out. After he left, Aang closed his eyes and thought for a moment about what Zuko had just said to him. He then took a deep inhale and made up his mind on what he had to do.

* * *

After they got back to the ship, Katara had brought some food for Aang and was eager to see if Zuko had been able to cheer him up. She walked into the hull of the ship when she spotted Zuko coming out.

"Hey Zuko" she said with a smile. "How did it go with…?" She stopped speaking as Zuko just walked right past her, without saying a word and with a sour look on his face. She was left feeling a little disheartened, thinking that his talk with Aang didn't go over so well. She continued on to his room to give him his food and hopefully be able to have another talk with him.

"Aang I brought you some food" she said as she entered, but she look around in surprise when she saw that he wasn't there. Her surprise quickly turned to fear when she noticed his staff was also gone. Katara dropped the food she was carrying to the floor when she realised what Aang had done. He had left.

Katara ran out to the deck of the ship to inform the others of what happened. Her father and Bato were the first people she saw. She rushed over to them, almost in tears.

"Aang's gone" she said.

"What?" Hakoda was shocked at this news and told Bato to tell the rest of the ship. Hakoda could see Katara was in pain over what was happening and wanted to talk to her alone.

Once Bato was gone he spoke again. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" she replied her voice filled with emotion. "His gilder is gone and I can't find him anywhere. He has this ridiculous notion that he has to save the world alone, that it's all his responsibility".

"Maybe that's his way of being brave" Hakoda said, trying to comfort his daughter.

"It's not brave" she said in anger. "It's selfish and stupid! We could be helping him and I know the world needs him, but doesn't he know how much we need him, too? How can he just leave us behind?"

Hakoda looked at Katara as she spoke and could see she really was in tears. He closed his eyes in shame and sadness as he finally understood what was wrong between the two of them since they met again.

"You're talking about me too, aren't you?" he said.

"How could you leave us, Dad?" she asked her father. She didn't know why she was asking him this, but it just felt right for some reason. "I mean, I know we had Gran-Gran, and she loved us, but we were just so lost without you". She put her hand to her eyes as she quietly started to sob. Hakoda moved over to her and held her as tight as he could.

"I'm so sorry Katara" he said with the deepest regret.

"I understand why you left" she sobbed in his arms. "I really do and I know that you had to go, so why do I still feel this way? I'm so sad and angry and hurt!"

Hakoda just held her closer as she finally let out her feelings. It was natural for her to feel this way. He had felt the same way when he left them.

"Katara, I love you more than anything" he said." You and your brother are my entire world. Leaving you behind was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I thought about you every day when I was gone and every night when I went to sleep, I would lie awake missing you so much it would ache". Katara listened to every word her father said and continued to cry in his arms, while he let a small tear fall down his cheek.

* * *

After their talk, Katara and Hakoda met up with Bato and Sokka on the deck of the ship. They confirmed that Aang had indeed left and were now trying to figure out where he could have gone.

"He must have flown to the Fire Nation" said Sokka. He looked over at Katara. "You said he wanted to redeem himself, well that's the only place he can go to do it. Plus it's the closet dry land near where we are".

"Well let's go after him already" said Toph impatiently.

"We can't catch up to him on the ship" said Sokka. "We'll have to go on Appa".

Once he, Toph, Katara and Momo had settled themselves into Appa's saddle. They were ready to take off when they were interrupted by Zuko.

"Wait. I'm coming too" he said.

"Sorry. Official Team Avatar business" replied Sokka, holding up his hand and not even looking at Zuko. "You're not invited".

Katara growled in frustration at Sokka's dismissal of Zuko and was about to argue for his right to come, when Zuko decided to speak first.

"Look I know you don't like me" he said to Sokka, "And I know you trust me either, but that's only because you're looking out for friend's wellbeing. It's partly my fault that Aang's left. I want to make for it just like I want to make up for the other things I've done in the past, but I can only do that if you give the chance to prove to myself you".

Sokka just looked at him as he spoke and was trying to process what he was hearing from Zuko. Normally Sokka always used logic and reason to make any important decision about their future, but he also knew that it was just as important to follow your gut.

"Alright get on" he sighed.

Zuko smiled at his response. "Thank you". He then climbed up to join Katara and Toph, in Appa's saddle and finally they were off.

* * *

Aang groaned as he opened his eyes and slowly tried to sit up. He found that he had finally reached dry land. It looked barren and uninhabited. The ground was nearly just a complete grey mass of stone, with no sign of vegetation and he could feel an intense heat coming from nearly all around him. As he examined these surroundings he looked up to see a ruined building on the cliff side that looked like it had been destroyed as a result of some volcanic activity. He recognised the building and the island as he had been here once before. This was CrescentMoon Island, the home of Avatar Roku. He heard a familiar roar as he looked up to see Appa flying overhead, until landing in front of him. He watched as Katara, Toph, Sokka, Momo and finally Zuko descend from the bison.

After his conversation with Roku and the events of last night, Aang had let go of some of his anger and now just felt happy to see everyone again. Momo climbed onto his shoulders and once again licked his face. He was followed by Katara and the others who now embraced each other in a group hug. Zuko was the only one who did not join in. Instead he just crossed his arms and looked away, feeling like he would only ruin such a tender moment. However Appa decided to include him and proceeded to lick him from behind. Zuko yelped in surprise and this prompted the rest of the group to look over at him as he tried to wipe off some of the drool. Aang now felt a wave of guilt wash over him and decided to make amends. He stood up and walked over to face Zuko.

"I'm…I'm sorry for what I said before" Aang said, struggling with his words. "I know now that you were only trying to help me come to terms with my own anger".

"It's alright" Zuko replied, not holding any grudge about what happened back on the ship. "Like I said before I understand what you're going through. But if there's one thing I've learned it's that you have to be able to accept the things you can't change or control. Things won't always go the way you want them to no matter how hard you try. You have to realise what can't do by yourself and be willing to take help from others when you really need it".

Aang listened to Zuko's words and could see a ring of truth in them. Aang had been angry over what was in the past. He was letting his anger consume him and had tried to do everything on his own, but he was still failing. He looked back at his friends who had come all this way to find him and suddenly he no longer felt alone. They wanted to help him do what had to be done and he was ready to let them. But before they did, he was going to do things the right way first and ask for the help he needed. He now looked once again at Zuko and bowed to him.

"I would like you to teach me Firebending".

Zuko smiled and returned the bow. He still wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing by helping the Avatar, but he could see that Aang did need his help. He knew that whatever his destiny was, it was connected to the Avatar's and decide it was best to stick with him for now. Besides, he had already made his choice; there was no going back for him now.

Aang smiled back at Zuko and was finally ready to welcome him into the group, but another thought came to his mind.

"What about the invasion?" he asked Sokka.

"We'll meet up with my dad and the invasion force on the day of the eclipse" he replied.

Toph moved one of her feet forward and could feel something on the ground. She bent down to pick it up and held the familiar object in her hands. She frowned as she noticed how it felt different.

"Uh Aang…here's your staff but um…"

Aang looked down at her hand as she held his staff out for him. He now felt a sharp pain in his chest when he saw it. It had been completely destroyed in the storm and was beyond any kind of repair. He took it from Toph and held it for a moment. He's staff had always felt like a part of himself. It was something he still had with him that came from the Air Nomads, like Appa and Momo. He closed in eyes in remorse for a short moment, but then steadied himself as he remembered Zuko's words. This was just something else that had happened that was beyond his ability to change, so he wasn't going to let it hold him back.

"It's okay" he said to Toph. "If someone saw it, it would give away my identity. It's better for now that no one knows I'm alive". He jumped up to a small mound of rock, where the volcanoes' lava trail was flowing through. He spun what was left of his staff one last time and plunged it into the rock. He moved back down to the others and without looking back, just walked away as the staff caught fire and slowly turned to ash.

* * *

Alright there you go, so please tell me what you think


	4. The Headband

Okay heres the next chapter, hope i get some more feedback on this. I do not own Avatar the last Airbender.

* * *

The Headband

Over the ocean, moving at a rather fast speed toward the rocky shore of an island was a large and round cloud. As it came closer to the island, it began to slow and descend on to the ground. If anyone was around to see this it would have been a very strange sight. What made it even stranger was the voice now emanating from the cloud.

"I can see a cave over there" it said.

"Shh keep quiet!" said another voice from within the cloud.

Suddenly the vapour of the cloud moved itself outward and disappeared, revealing a sky bison carrying five passengers and a lemur that were hidden within the cloud. Once Appa landed Sokka quickly jumped off his back and barrel rolled on the ground over to a large rock. He then pushed his back up to the rock and looked over his shoulder to see if anyone was nearby. He then folded his arms and looked at the others.

"Great job with the cloud cover, but from now, let's disguise ourselves as the kind of cloud that knows how to keep its mouth shut" he said with a hint of disappointment. He then went back to observing the area with suspicion.

"Yeah, we wouldn't want a bird to hear us chatting up there and turn us in" said Toph in a sarcastic manner.

Sokka turned to others once again, with his back still to the rock. "Hey, we're in enemy territory, those are enemy birds" he said, while pointing at a toucan puffin standing on the rock. Zuko didn't seem to take this well and crossed his arms looking angry at Sokka's comment.

"This enemy territory is where I grew up. It's my home!" As he said this, one of the toucans jumped onto Sokka's head and peaked at him, while the other three merely laughed. They then started to walk casually up to the cave that Aang had spotted, while Sokka was still ducking and moving cautiously behind them, until he jumped over their head's and literally dived to the ground. The others just stop to watch him as he crawled into the cave and after examining it, ducked his head back out to signal them to come in. Zuko was left stunned at this display of foolery from the guy who was planning to invade an entire country.

"Is he always like this?" he asked the others.

"Yep" Aang stated with a smile.

"Oh yeah" said Katara with a hint of exasperation

"Pretty much" added Toph.

When they all entered the cave, Sokka stood in front of them and seemed thoroughly satisfied with what they had found.

"Well, here we are. This is how we'll be living until the invasion begins" he said in enthusiasm. "Hiding in cave after cave after cave… after cave". As he spoke his previous enthusiasm seemed to drop with each mention of the word cave.

"Sokka, we don't need to become cave people" said Katara. "What we really need is some new clothes".

"Yeah, blending in is better than hiding out" Aang chimed in. "If we get Fire Nation disguises, we would be just as safe as we would be hiding in a cave".

"Plus, they have real food out there" said Toph, who had sat down beside the wall of the cave. "Does anyone want to sit in the dirt and eat cave hoppers?" She banged her fist against the wall, using only a little bit of earthbending to knock several hoppers out onto the ground. Momo soon began to hungrily chase after them and it looked like he was happy enough with hiding in a cave.

"Looks like we got outvoted sport. Let's get some new clothes" said Sokka in defeat.

* * *

"Over here" called Zuko. The others gathered round him as he hid behind a rock wall. They could see he had found a small house near a waterfall, with a clothes line over some natural steam vents. They could also see that there was a man lying in the doorway of the house, fast asleep.

"There are plenty of clothes here that we can take" said Zuko. "We each grab whatever looks will fit us and be quick about it so we aren't spotted". Aang looked a little uneasy about Zuko's plan.

"I don't know about this. Those clothes belong to someone else".

"If you want to survive here" replied Zuko,"this is what needs to be done. So either get something here or go back to the cave".

"I call the silk robe!" yelled Katara jumping over the wall to the clothes line, after finally spotting something she liked. Aang and Zuko ceased their arguing and watched her go in surprise. Aang decide to put his guilt aside for a moment.

"Well if it's essential to our survival... then I call the suit!" he yelled and joined Katara.

The group moved as fast as they could and just took what looked like their size, save for Sokka who as usually was a little picky about what he wanted, though it seemed like they had a plenty of time to choose as it didn't look like the man at the door was going to wake up anytime soon. When they were finished they moved back behind the rocks to try on their new outfits. Aang made a smart choice when he picked the suit to wear, since it covered up his entire body, leaving none of his tattoos visible, save for the arrow on his forehead. He quickly compensated for that by taking the belt of the suit and tying it around his forehead to cover the arrow.

"Ta-dah! Normal kid." he said when he had finished. Zuko, who had chosen a red cloak with a hood long enough to cover his face and hide his scar, looked at Aang's new disguise.

"You actually do look like a normal kid" he said after going over Aang's new look. He doubted anyone would now suspect him of being the Avatar. They were then joined by Toph and Sokka who had already put on their new clothes.

"I guess I should wear shoes" said Toph, a little thoughtful. "But then I won't be able to see as well". She sat down on a rock and placed a shoe on her foot. She then lifted her foot up, while still holding the shoe and pulled back as hard as she could, tearing the sole of the shoe off and sending it flying into Sokka's face, who just took it without even flinching.

"Finally, a stylish shoe for the blind earthbender" she said, after tapping the ground a few times, satisfied to see that her seismic sense would still work with her new footwear.

"Well? How do I look?" asked Katara, who was the last one to finish trying on her new outfit. She walked to the others, now with her hair let down and wearing red and black clothing. As soon as Aang saw her, he let out a blush at her appearance and scratched his head, at a loss for words. He found them again when he noticed one thing that didn't quite fit with her new look.

"Uh... your mom's necklace".

"Oh right" she said a little saddened. "I guess it's pretty obviously Water Tribe huh?" Katara looked at down her necklace and touched the pendant of it, before taking it off. She had been wearing her necklace ever since Gran Gran had given it to her and now she couldn't help but feel regret at the fact she could no longer wear it in public. She knew it wouldn't be forever and would be proud when she could show it to others again.

* * *

The group went on to a small town on the island to buy what they needed before leaving again. Using what money they had, Katara decided to buy another necklace just to keep up her appearance a little, while Toph bought a new crown for her hair and Sokka bought a headpiece for his ponytail. Aang let Momo hide inside his new suit, as lemurs were probably uncommon in the Fire nation. They stopped beside the corner of a building leading into a large square, while Zuko examined the crowd ahead before turning back to the others.

"Ok you guys may look like Fire Nation citizens now" he said in a serious manner "but you need to be careful about how you act and what you say. It's easy enough for people here to spot out foreigners. So just keep your heads down and try not to do anything that will get us caught". The group looked a little concerned at his warning, while Aang seemed unfazed and try to ease the tension Zuko had made.

"Zuko relax" Aang told him with confidence. "I used to come here to visit my friend Kuzon a hundred years ago. So everyone just follow my lead and be cool. Or, as they say in the Fire Nation, stay flaming". Zuko gave Aang a quizzical look after he said that last part and just watched him as he literally strut around the corner out into the crowd.

The rest of the group followed Aang as he walked into the square with a light spring in his step. As he passed a man on the sidewalk that was eating a kebab, Aang waved to him and spoke in a very confident and cherry manner.

"Greetings, my good Hotman!" The man looked a little surprised at this rather formal and unusual greeting and gave an uncertain reply. "Uh, hi. I guess?"

The group continued to walk up through the square, until Sokka spotted a butchers shop for them to get food and hurriedly beckoned the others to come along. When Aang saw where they were headed he stop in the square.

"We're going to a meat place?" he said, a little uncomfortable.

"Come on, Aang" said Sokka as if Aang was missing out on something fun. "Everyone here eats meat...even the meat!" He then pointed over a large hippo-cow that was eating a pile of fish off the ground. However Aang remained unconvinced as he was a vegetarian and couldn't really betray his beliefs that easily.

"You guys go ahead" he said. "I'll just get some lettuce out of the garbage". When the others entered the shop, Aang turned back to the square and watched the crowd move around in front of him. Not wanting to draw attention to himself he decided to act as casual as he could. He then began to disperse the same greeting of "hotman" to the Fire Nation citizens who walked passed. He didn't seem to notice the fact that none of them bothered to return the same greeting. However he soon noticed the three imposing guards moving up to him.

"It's over, we caught you" said the head guard when he reached Aang.

"Who me?" Aang asked, now feeling very afraid.

"That's right" replied the guard. "It couldn't be more obvious that you don't belong here". Aang gulped, thinking he's cover was somehow blow and now the invasion would be ruined.

The guard smirked, looking satisfied at Aang's fear. "Bit of advice; next time you play hooky, you might want to take off your school uniform".

Aang grinned sheepishly at his comment. He hadn't been caught, but he was still in trouble. The guard then seized him by his collar and dragged him off.

* * *

The next thing Aang knew, he was thrown into the middle of a classroom in a Fire Nation school and was looking at a classroom filled with kids wearing the exact same clothes as him and appearing astonished at his sudden entrance. The teacher was equal surprised at his appearance and stood up to inspect him.

"What's this?" she said. "A new mind ready for moulding?" Aang was relieved that he hadn't been found out and decided to play along with the act, otherwise they would know something was wrong about him.

"That's right" he said, knocking his head to indicate the lack of content." Let the moulding begin". The guards who had brought him in began to leave, but stopped when the teacher spoke again.

"Wait a minute. You're not from the Fire Nation". Aang held his breath as she drew closer to him and began to survey him.

"Clearly you're from the colonies" she said after a long, suspenseful moment.

Aang gave a sigh of relief once again and counted himself lucky. "That's right, I'm from the colonies. The Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom". The teacher began to circle around him, as if to continue her inspection.

"Your etiquette is terrible" she said in a strict manner. "In the homeland, we bow to our elders".

She gave Aang the traditional Fire nation bow and waited for him to return it. Not wanting to be disrespectful to this woman even if she wasn't really his teacher, he held his hands out in a salute and bowed. However she tapped his hands with her ferrule, clearly disproving of the salute he usually gave to others on his travels. Unsure of what to do next, Aang looked around the room from help and caught the eye of a young girl near the front who showed him the proper salute to give. He smiled at her for helping him and then bowed to the teacher.

"And we don't wear headbands in doors" she said now tapping his forehead.

Thinking quickly to avoid having to take off his headband, Aang suddenly thought of Zuko.

"Um, I have a scar. It's really embarrassing".

"Very well" she replied, deciding to let this one slide. "Now what is your name?"

"Uh... Kuzon" he said. It was the first name that came into his head. When it looked like the teacher was out of questions for him, Aang turned to face the rest of his new classmates with a friendly smile, hoping that he could make it through the day without any problems.

* * *

Azula sat within the palanquin lifted up by her servants as she made her way through the parade given in her honour. The surrounding crowd cheered at her presence. They all saw her as the greatest hero in Fire Nation history. They looked at her in awe, fear and admiration for her signal handed defeat of the Earth kingdom. And she loved every minute of it.

Walking along her right hand side was Tadao, who kept a stoic demeanour throughout the joyous celebration. Azual had offered him his own palanquin to ride in but he said he would prefer walking. He kept his eyes forward, while occasionally scanning the crowd. The Imperial Firebenders marched both in front and behind Azula, for both appearance and security. At the head of the parade, just in front of Azula's section, was Lo and Li. They were giving a speech on how Azula had taken Ba Sing Se and defeated the Avatar. They also mentioned how Tadao led the Dai Le agents in the destruction of Ba Sing Se's great wall. Azula was content with letting him share some of the praise. She felt he did deserve it. Without his help, she may never have killed the Avatar.

Though Azula was pleased with her victory, there was one thing that still bothered her. When she originally left the Fire Nation, she was given a mission by her father, but that mission had not yet been fully carried out. One thing had slipped past her and it made her triumph seem incomplete. So she quietly decided she would correct that slip up.

* * *

When the bell rang, signally the end of the school day, Aang quickly made his way outside to the school yard. As he walked, he discreetly opened his jacket to see Momo who had managed to stay hidden.

"We made through the day buddy" Aang whispered to him. "And it was actually kinda of fun". Aang had to admit he wasn't really bothered by his little detour. He enjoyed acting as if he was a regular Fire Nation kid and going to school. For some reason it reminded him of his time growing up at the Southern Air Temple. His thoughts were then interrupted by a voice from behind him.

"Don't let the headmaster catch you with that monkey". Aang gasped and quickly concealed Momo again.

"What monkey?" he said as he turned to face his accuser with an innocent grin. He quickly recognised the girl that stood in front of him. She was the same one who had helped him earlier with the Fire Nation salute.

"Don't worry" she said with a smile." I'm not a tattletale. My name's On Ji. I like your headband, by the way".

Aang smiled back at her, while he tried to think of a reply. He was grateful to her for helping him and she seemed like she was only trying to be friendly. He even thought she was a bit pretty. Once again however, his thoughts were interrupted. This time by someone who roughly pushed past him from behind. It was a taller and slightly older looking student, who moved over to On Ji and put his arm around her.

"On Ji, you don't have to babysit the new kid" he said, in a rather mocking tone. Aang however didn't take any offense.

"Hi, you must be one of those popular kids I've been hearing about" he said in a very friendly manner.

"That's right" he replied still in a contemptuous tone of voice. "Now listen, friend, I know you're from the colonies, so I'll say this slowly". He started to move closer to Aang's face, trying to intimidate him. "On Ji...is...my...girlfriend. Don't forget it". He then put his arm back around On Ji and pulled her away, while Aang smiled and waved them goodbye.

"Nice meeting you" he called at them. A smaller student who had witnessed the event walked up to Aang in stunned amazement.

"That was incredible. He didn't beat you up. Not even a little".

"I guess I'm just lucky" Aang said in modesty, not seeing what the big deal was.

"Me and some other guys are on our way to play hide-and-explode. You wanna come?" the other boy asked.

"I'd love to!" Aang replied in excitement. In Aang's mind set, if this game was anything like hide-and-go seek, then it should be pretty fun.

* * *

After they got their food, the rest of the group went outside to the square and saw that Aang had seemingly disappeared. They assumed he may have gone back to the cave, but once they returned there he was nowhere to be found. While the others sat around the camp fire, Zuko paced up and down the cave, clearly agitated.

"We shouldn't have left him all by himself like that. Who knows what he's getting himself into right now!" he said.

"Zuko, we're all worried about Aang" said Katara. "But I'm sure he'll be alright"

"He won't be alright if the keeps acting the way he does" said Zuko in anger. "He's probably off sightseeing like some kind of tourist. He doesn't understand that the Fire Nation is different than what it was a hundred years ago. He's even using slang that nobody's even heard of in a hundred years". The rest of the group looked up at Zuko as he ranted; now feeling even more worried about Aang. Their worries however were soon put to rest when they heard someone approaching and then finally saw Aang enter the cave, now covered in burn marks.

"Where have you been?" asked Katara in concern.

"I got invited to play with some kids after school" he replied simply.

The rest of the group were utterly perplexed by his statement. Sokka quickly stood up and asked the question they were all thinking. "After what?"

"I enrolled in a Fire Nation school" Aang said happily "And I'm going back tomorrow".

Sokka just stood there, still in disbelief after hearing that last word again. "Enrolled in what?" He then keeled over in complete shock. Once Sokka had regained his composure, Aang explained how he had been mistaken for a school boy by some guards and was placed into a Fire Nation school. After he finished his story, he once again stated his desire to return there tomorrow. However the others were not so easily convinced.

"Aang, I trying to be mature about this" said Sokka,"but that sounds like a really…really bad idea".

"Yeah we already have our new clothes" said Toph. "What do you need to go to school for?"

"Every minute I'm in that classroom" he replied, "I'm learning new things about the Fire Nation. I already have a picture of Fire Lord Ozai". He then held up the portrait he kept from art class. "And here's one that I made out of noodles!" He held up the second picture, which was slightly more comical than the first.

"We don't need to waste time here!" said Zuko, as he walked up to Aang, yanked the noodle picture out of his hands and crumbled it up into a ball. "You can't go around playing these little kiddy games and drawing attention to yourself like this".

"Zuko's right" Sokka said. "It's too dangerous. You're putting all of us at risk".

Aang was a little let down by their refusal, but then came with a new tactic. "Oh well, I guess we'll never know about the secret river, that goes right up to the Fire Lord's palace".

"What?" Zuko said with a frown. "There's no secret river to the palace".

"You sure? Our teacher said that we'll learn about it tomorrow" Aang said rather deviously.

"Well there's not!" said Zuko in defiance. He crossed his arms and looked away from Aang. After a short moment he looked back at Aang in a little uncertainty. "Is there?"

"You didn't pay much attention in school did you?" Toph asked, teasing Zuko.

"Hmm…I am a fan of secret rivers" said Sokka. "Okay fine, go back tomorrow, just to be sure".

"Flamey-o, Hotman!" Aang said in excitement and ran off. The others watched him go and were once again confused by his outdated slang.

"Flamey-o?" Katara asked Zuko, who just sighed in frustration.

* * *

Azula and Tadao were walking through the garden of the Fire Lord's palace. They were on their way to see Fire Lord Ozai, who was had wished to speak with Tadao himself after he had already met with Azula. In corner of Azula's eye she saw pond where her mother and Zuko would feed the turtle-ducks.

"You know, I used to play here with Mai and Ty lee when we were children" she said casually. "We had a lot of fun, mostly when we were teasing with Zuko". She glanced over to Tadao who just remained silent. Azula frowned a little, not wanting to be ignored.

"We better hurry" she said changing the subject. "My father will be unhappy if you're late". This time Tadao nodded his head slightly, indicating he had heard her, but still made no comment.

"Don't you have anything you want to say or ask before you meet with the Fire Lord?" she asked him as they entered the royal palace.

"No" he replied. Azula gave a small sigh of exasperation.

"You're more anti-social than Mai. And that's saying something, though for some reason she is even gloomier than usual. Perhaps you should try to talking more to people".

"If that is what you want, then I will try to be more social Mistress Azula" he replied with a small bow of his head.

"See that you do" she said satisfied by his immediate obedience. Ever since Ba Sing Se, he had obeyed all of her commands without question or hesitance. She was used to this of course by all of her servants, but it seemed as though Tadao had no other real goal but to obey her. She didn't have to use force or fear to make him don what she wanted. She only had to ask.

Soon they had reached the end of a long corridor leading up to the entrance of Fire Lord's throne room. Azula motioned for Tadao to enter by himself and told him to meet her in her bedroom when he was done. Tadao watched as Azula left down the corridor and then entered the chamber.

As soon as Tadao had stepped into the chamber, Fire Lord Ozai had set his eyes directly upon him. He had been told a great deal about him by his daughter and now was eager study him for himself. He watched as the young man in front of him sat down on his knees and gave a respectful bow. Ozai stood up and moved down from his throne to inspect him more closely.

"So you are Tadao" said Ozai as he circled around him. Tadao simply kept his head slightly lowered, not looking Ozai directly in the face.

"My daughter has told me much about you. She speaks very highly of you". Ozai tried to gauge some kind of reaction from him, but he remained almost motionless.

"Together the two of you were able to slay the Avatar. An impressive feat. Now I am trying to think on what can be done with you". Once again Tadao gave no kind of response. Ozai now stopped to face his throne with his back to Tadao.

"I have decided...to appoint you as my daughter's personal bodyguard and escort". He turned around to face Tadao once again. "Do have any personal objection to that?" he inquired.

"No" Tadao replied, speaking for the very first time.

Ozai gave a small smile of approval. He could see now why his daughter favoured this boy. He was silent, obedient and most importantly respectful. Everything Ozai had wished his own failure of a son would be.

* * *

After Ozai had given him leave to go, Tadao slowly made his way up to Azula's chamber. He entered to see Azula sitting on the edge of her bed, along with Ty Lee who was standing on her two hands and Mai leaning on the wall, looking out the window.

"So had did it go?" asked Azula.

"It went well. Your father has made me your new bodyguard, Mistress".

"Ooh that's wonderful" said Ty Lee. "You two are really great together"

Tadao just stared at Ty Lee for a short moment before he bowed his head once again. "Thank you". He then looked over to Azula. "Was there something you wanted to speak with me about?"

"Yes" replied Azula."When my father sent me to the Earth Kingdom, it was to capture my brother and uncle. We succeeded in capturing my uncle, but Zuko was able to get away from us".

"Do you wish for him to hunt him down and bring him back?" asked Tadao.

"No, your talents are better suited here. And I've also been thinking that capturing him and locking him up may be too soft of a punishment. I think we need a more permanent solution to this problem".

Though the others didn't notice it, Mai tensed her body and widened her eyes when she realised what Azula was talking about. Tadao gave her a brief glance, but returned his attention to Azula.

"For that I have someone else in mind" said Azula. "Meet with him tomorrow night to give him the specifics".

"Of course Mistress" replied Tadao as he gave yet another bow.

* * *

Aang woke up early the next morning and left the cave as soon as he was ready, so that he wouldn't be late for school. He had lied to the others last night about the secret river because he hoped he could enjoy spending some more time at the school before they would have to leave. As he made his way to the building, Aang started to realise the reason he liked going there was that he was able pretend that he wasn't the Avatar. He knew that being the Avatar was his responsibility and he wasn't going to try and run away from it again. He only wished to step out of that role, even if it was just for one more day.

When he got to his classroom, Aang took a sit in the middle of the class and waited along with the rest of the kids for the teacher Ms Kwan to arrive. When she entered the other students rose up from their seats, while Aang quickly repeated after them.

"Good morning, class" she said. "Recite the Fire Nation oath".

At her command the students turned to face the large portrait of Fire Lords Ozai that took up nearly the entire rear wall of the room. The students then bowed to the portrait and began to recite the oath. Aang stood there awkwardly as he had no idea how the oath went. He wished he had asked Zuko before he left. The others recited the oath very quickly, making it hard for Aang to hear it. He had to speak a few beats behind everyone else and he was only able to spout out a few words like "Fire Lord" and "forefathers". As he feebly tried to keep up, the other students couldn't help but laugh at his attempt. The only one who didn't find it funny was Ms Kwan who scowled at their behaviour.

"Since it's obviously hilarious to mock our national oath" she said after the students had taken their seat, "We'll begin with a pop quiz on our Great March of Civilization". The students groan in disappointment at this added workload and each took out a pen and paper.

"Question one: What year did Fire Lord Sozin battle the Air Nation Army?"

Aang raised his hand in confusion at Ms Kawn's question. She acknowledges him with a slightly suspicion expression. "Kuzon?"

"Is that trick question?" he asked, thinking it might be some kind of mistake. "The Air Nomads didn't have a formal military. Sozin defeated them by ambush". The entire classroom opened their mouths at what Aang was saying, thinking he was taking crazy. Even Ms Kwan appeared flustered at his statement, but regained her composure.

"Well, I don't know how you could possibly know more than our national history book. Unless you were there a hundred years ago?"

"Uh, I'll just write down my best guess" he said deciding he better not make a scene.

* * *

Later the class had moved on to the music room, where the teacher instructed them to take an instrument and begin to practice. Since everyone else already had an instrument to play, Aang was given a Tsungi horn. As the band started playing, Aang paused for a few moments thinking on what to do. He then took a deep breath and let out a loud and boisterous noise, while tapping his feet manically to the music. The rest of the band, along with the teacher stopped what they were doing to look at him.

"Kuzon?" the music teacher asked.

"I know" Aang said when he stopped playing. "I'm a terrible Tsungi horn player".

"No, child. That hullabaloo going on with your feet. Is that a nervous disorder?"

"I was just dancing" he said. "You do dances here in the homeland, right?"

"Dancing is not conducive to a proper learning environment. Young people must have rigid discipline and order". The music teacher began to walk along room as he said this, speaking to the rest of the class as well as Aang.

Aang did not like sound of what the teacher was describing. "But what about expressing yourself?"

The teacher sighed at this question and walked back to his stand. "I understand if you so are moved by the love of your nation that you can't control your own body. If you must, you can march in place quietly next time". The rest of the band resumed playing their instruments, while Aang reluctantly did as the teacher asked and marched quietly in place.

* * *

Later during the lunch break, Aang walked out to the courtyard where most of the students scattered around. When they noticed Aang they started to whisper quietly about him. Aang soon realised he had caused a sensation among the students today. He also noticed how there were a few things that weren't right about this school. The teachers were mostly very strict about everything, which wasn't too odd for any school. However Aang could tell the students had very little freedom. They weren't allowed to do any sort of fun activities like dancing or playing sport. They also couldn't ask many questions about what they were being taught. Most of the text books Aang had read were a little biased, only showing the Fire Nation in a good light and giving incorrect facts about the war.

Aang now felt disappointed at what was happing to these kids. The Fire Nation was trying to make them out the way they wanted them to be and turn them against the rest of the world. He then saw On Ji approach him and gave her a smile, thinking at least of some people in the here were kind hearted.

"Hi, Kuzon. I really liked that crazy dance you were doing" she said.

"Thanks, On Ji. I could show it to you again, if you'd like". Suddenly Aang yelped in surprise, trying to avoid a blast of fire that was thrown at him. He looked across the yard to see that Hide, On Ji's so called boyfriend had shot the fire and looked eager to start a fight.

"What'd you say, colony trash?" he called at Aang. "You're gonna show her something?" He started to approach Aang, who was trying to figure out how to handle this. He definitely couldn't fight back with any bending he already knew and he also didn't have reason to fight with this guy.

"Just some dance movements" Aang said innocently, trying to defuse the situation. However Hide didn't seem to want this to end peacefully.

"Nobody shows my On Ji, anything, especially movements". When he was close enough he lunged at Aang. However Aang instinctively used the most basic of airbending movements and simply side stepped his attack. Hide kept trying to take another shot at Aang, who just kept ducking and moving around him. Eventually Hide lost his balance and was propelled forward by his own momentum, falling to the ground.

The surrounding students watched this entire event in awe. Their faces of amazement, however quickly turned to fear when the School's Headmaster came onto the scene. He arrived just in time to see Hide laying on the ground and Aang standing over him.

"Picking fights on your second day?" he asked Aang. "We need to have a conference to discuss your punishment. Bring your parents to my office after school".

"Parents?" Aang repeated, as if he never heard the word before.

"Don't be late" said the Headmaster in a very threatening tone. He turned to leave followed by a smirking Hide. The rest of the students dispersed leaving Aang standing there in the middle of the yard in complete despair, until an idea came to his mind.

* * *

After little bit of begging and some quick thinking, Aang was able to convince Sokka and Katara to pose as his "parents". They were all now sitting in the Headmasters office wearing some slightly modified disguise. Katara had tied her hair up into two buns on either side of her head and wore some padding on her waist to mimic pregnancy, while Sokka had somehow managed to obtain a fake beard and moustache, and was wearing it very proudly.

The Headmaster was seated in front of them and looked a little curious about the family he was speaking to. "Thank you for coming, Mr And Mrs….

"Fire!" answered Sokka, with a slight accent to make it more convincing. "Wang Fire. And this is my wife Sapphire." He gestured to Katara who bowed her head at the Headmaster. "Sapphire Fire, nice to meet you". The Headmaster now appeared to be slightly dubious of their names but did not press the subject.

"Mr. and Mrs...Fire" he continued, "Your son has been enrolled here for two days, and he's already causing problems. He's argued with his history teacher, disrupted music class, and roughed up my star pupil".

"My goodness!" exclaimed Katara with her hand to in mouth, imitating the appearance of a real mother. "That doesn't sound like our Kuzon".

"That's what any mother would say, ma'am" replied the Headmaster indulgently. "Nonetheless, you're forewarned. If he acts up one more time, I'll have him sent to reform school by which I mean the coal mines. Are we clear?"

"Don't you worry, Mr. Headmaster" said Sokka. "I'll straighten this boy out somethin' fierce". He turned to Aang began to yell in his ear. "Young man, as soon as we get home, you're gonna get the punishment of a lifetime!" Aang cringed at Sokka's outburst and was wondering if it was part of the act or not.

* * *

"That settles it. No more school for you young man!" Aang sat uncomfortable in the cave as Sokka continued yelling at him, while still wearing his "Wang Fire" disguise. Even after they left the school, Sokka had kept wearing his fake beard. It seemed as though he enjoyed playing the role of an overbearing father too much to drop it so easily.

"But I'm not ready to leave yet" Aang said to Sokka. "I'm having a lot of fun just being a regular kid. You don't know what it's like, Sokka. You get to be regular all the time".

Toph gave a small snort of laughter at Aang's comment, while Sokka gave her a scowl of annoyance.

"Listen, guys" Aang continued, "Those kids at school are the future of the Fire Nation. If we wanna change this place for the better, we need to give them a little taste of freedom".

"What could you possibly do for a country of depraved little fire monsters?" said Sokka sceptically.

"I'm gonna throw them a secret dance party!" Aang said while doing a quick tap dance to empathise his point. The rest of the group were left completely stunned at what he was proposing. Sokka was the first one to recover.

"Go to your room!" he said trying to resume his earlier performance.

* * *

Once again, Aang had managed to convince the other to go along with his idea. After they sent word for the students to meet them in the cave, they began to make preparations. Both Toph and Aang used earthbending to make more space in the cave, as well as to make some seats and a tall stand in the middle of the floor for the band to play on, while Katara used her waterbending to get some drinks ready.

"I can't believe we're actually doing this" said Sokka as he arranged some candles for lighting. "It seems so... silly".

"It _is_ silly" said Zuko in contemptuous tone. He was sitting down on one of the rock seats with his head leaning one hand, not wanting to be a part of this event. "I don't see how some dance party is going to help anyone".

"Don't think of it as a dance party" replied Aang cheerily, "but as a cultural event celebrating the art of fancy footwork". He then began to show more of his dancing skills to Zuko, who just watched him with a deadpan expression.

When the kids started to approach, Toph felt their vibrations as they moved and cautioned the others to stop bending. Aang led Appa out to the back entrance of the cave and returned to help set up the band. He instructed them to play some lively and upbeat music. Once the music had started he had hoped the students would start moving, but they just stayed huddle together, uncertain of what to do.

"What do we do now?" one boy spoke up.

"This is when you start dancing" Aang replied.

"I don't think my parents want me dancing in a cave" said another boy who pulled his head into his collar. "What if someone finds out?" The rest of the students now started to feel anxious and were starting to leave the cave.

"Wait, listen" he called at them, "Dancing isn't something you think about. It's a form of self-expression that no one can ever take away from you".

"Maybe over in the colonies" said another boy, "but we don't do that here".

"Sure you do" said Aang. "You have for generations. It just so happens that I know several classic fire nation dances. A hundred years ago, this was known as the Phoenix flight". Aang then ran around in a circle, squatting and kicking his legs, while holding his arms back to resemble wings.

"And this was the "camelephant strut". He then performed yet another dance movement that earned several "ooh" and "ahs" from the boys, while the girls giggled at him in an excited fashion.

As Aang continued to show off to the amazed audience, Katara and Toph had taken a seat and were sharing some drinks.

"Who knew Twinkle toes could dance?" said Toph in an impressed manner.

As Aang finished another summersaulted, he landed right in front of On Ji, who looked away bashfully. One of her friends nudged her over to Aang who extended his hand to her, offering to dance. She blushed as she took his hand and followed him to the dance floor.

"And this is how they do it in the ballrooms of Ba Sing Se" he said. As he demonstrated this latest dance, On Ji did her best to keep up with him and the audience were now impressed at how easily it was for her to dance.

"Oh they look so cute together" said Sokka.

"If you say so" said Katara with a small hint of jealousy.

Soon more and more of the kids began to come out to the dance floor. Some tried to mimic the moves Aang had shown them, while others were free styling their own moves. Zuko watched from his seat with a surprised face as the crowd began to loosen up and everyone was strutting their stuff. It looked like the kids were really enjoying themselves. He saw that Toph was now sitting by herself and decided to move over to her.

After he sat down he stayed quiet for a moment. "So...dance's party huh?" he finally managed to say.

"Yep" she replied. Zuko looked around the cave as nearly everyone was dancing,and now felt a little awkward.

"Are you gonna join in?" he asked casually.

"I tried dancing once" she explained. "My parents made me do it, but they stopped after I broke some guy's foot".

"Ah" Zuko said in understanding. Once again he looked around the cave and saw that some people had partnered up. He looked then over to Toph again. "Do you wanna…?"

"Nope" she said, cutting him off. Zuko simply shrugged his shoulder and slouched back in his seat.

"Yeah me neither".

As the kids were able to dance on their own now, Aang moved over to Katara who was sitting in her own. She looked up at him as he offered her his hand, like he had with On Ji.

"Uh I don't know, Aang" she said. "These shoes aren't really right for dancing, and I'm not sure that I know how to..."

"Just take my hand" he said masterfully. She did as he instructed and moved out to the centre of the floor. They stretched out their arms to each other, their wrist joining them together and moved in a circle. Zuko now watched the two of them with interest as that pose reminded him of the time he almost duelled one of his lieutenants back on his ship. Soon everyone else had stopped dancing to look at them.

Katara noticed this and suddenly felt nervous. "Aang, everyone's watching".

"Don't worry about them" he said confidently. "It's just you and me right now".

Katara kept complete eye contact with Aang as then began the most elaborate dance yet. It was combination of crouches, cartwheels and even some of their bending styles. The crowd was mesmerised by this display. It ended with Aang holding Katara in his arms above the ground, striking a pose, both of them panting with exhaustion. The crowd clapped and cheered at their performance.

Some distance outside the cave, the Headmaster followed by Hide and some guards approached the cave. When they were close enough to see the light and hear the music, the Headmaster let out a small scowl.

"So it is a dance party. You did the right thing by telling me, Hide".

"Anytime, Headmaster, sir" said Hide, bowing and giving a smirk.

Inside the cave the party was in full swing, but ending abruptly when the Headmaster and his guards walked in. The music and dancing grinded to a halt at the sight of them. Aang however was oblivious to this development and continued to dance.

"He's the one we want" said the Headmaster to his guards. "The one with the headband".

Aang broke off from his dance to see the guards now running to him. He quickly ran into the crowd of students to lose them. One of the guards scanned the crowd and spotted the boy with a headband. He grabbed him, but when he turned him around, realised he was not the right one. Another guard saw someone else wearing a headband but they saw it was a girl instead. The Headmaster looked around the crowd for Aang, but soon noticed how the students with headbands were seemingly multiplying.

The guards moved back to the Headmaster, unsure of what to do next, as every student in the cave had tied their belt around their forehead to resemble Aang. The main group had moved to the back of the cave, near the tunnel Appa had used to leave. As the others used it as their escape, Aang took one last look at the boy who had come up with the headband idea. He gave Aang a wink before he made his leave, while Aang gave the boy a bow in Fire Nation style and ran down the tunnel. Suddenly the floor of the tunnel moved upward, sealing it off. The Fire nation boy hung his mouth open at what could only have been a display of earthbending.

The group had made it to Appa and now flew silently through the night sky.

"We're safe, Sokka" said Katara. "You can take off the moustache, now"

"Oh, no, I can't. It's permanently glued to my skin". He began stroking his new facial hair, clearly pleased with himself.

"Way to go, Dancypants" said Toph to Aang. "I think you were able to help those kids. You taught them to be free".

"You really did help them" Zuko said in some amazement. "I've never been to a party like that before in the Fire Nation. It looked everyone was really having …fun".

"Well maybe when this is all over we could throw another dance party" said Aang.

"That'll be some party Aang" said Katara, who moved over to give him kiss on the cheek. Aang blushed when she did this, while Sokka just clapped his hands slowly.

"Flamey-o, sir. Flame-ee-o". And with that they continued on into the night.

* * *

Tadao walked quietly down to a small yard within an industrial area of the city. He stopped beside a rail line that bisected the yard and took a look around. He soon heard a loud clanking noise from behind and turned to face a very large man, almost twice his height, with a metal prosthetic leg and arm.

"Hotman" said Tadao as he raised his hand in greeting. "Princess Azula called you here, because she has a task for you. She wants you to find Prince Zuko. And kill him".

The giant man nodded at this request. Tadao was briefly able to glimpse the man's face, which bared a small tattoo on his forehead, that resembled an inverted red eye.

* * *

Please review


	5. The Painted Lady

Wow, I finally understand why it takes so long for people to update. Life can really get in your way, can't it? So anyway heres the next chapter. Thanks in advance for reading it and hope you enjoy it. I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender.

* * *

The Painted Lady

The sun was shinning brightly in the sky, as Appa slowly trudged his way through a sludge-invested river. Toph and Katara were sitting in the middle of his saddle looking down at the polluted water below, while Sokka was fishing near the back. Zuko had taken a seat on Appa's head and was just looking up at the clouds above. For a reason that the others were unable to fathom, Aang had decided to jump off Appa and play with Momo in the putrid water.

"Momo" Aang called as he ducked his head underneath the water, while the lemur began to fly overhead searching for Aang. He spotted Aang as he resurfaced and quickly latched onto his head. Aang laughed when Momo caught him, clearly enjoying their game. It was only then did he look down at the water and seemingly realise that he was swimming in filth. Aang spun himself using airbending, to jump out of the water and slowly descend onto Appa's saddle, now covered in the disgusting water.

"Hey guys, I think this river's polluted," he said, as if the others hadn't already taken notice. He clapped his fist together, creating an air bubble around himself and blowing away the sludge. He then saw that he had inadvertently blown it onto the others and quickly cleaned them off before they had a chance to complain.

"Well, I guess that's why I can't catch a fish around here" said Sokka as he pulled in his fishing reel. "Because normally my fishing skills are...off the hook!" He held up the empty hook of his reel to complete the punch line. "Get it?"

It seemed as though everyone else did not get the joke as they remained silent or it was more likely that the joke simply wasn't that funny.

"Too bad your fishing skills aren't on the hook", said Toph. Both Aang and Katara laughed at Toph's much more sassy sense of humour, while Sokka gave them his usual annoyed scowl. Katara took another look at the water below, as it slowly dawned onto her that, without any fish to catch they would have no dinner.

"It looks like we'll need to go somewhere else to get food," she said. She turned back to look at the long scroll of paper that was unrolling across the saddle, taking up nearly the entire length of it. "Assuming of course that it will fit into Sokka's master schedule".

"Hm…it's doable," said Sokka after going over the scroll intently. "But that means only two potty breaks today!"

"There's a town down the river. We can get food there" said Zuko, who was now pulling on Appa's reins to lead him out of the water. The others looked ahead to see the small village that Zuko was indicting to, that was just visibly at the very end of the river.

* * *

Once they had found a secluded area in the cliffs, the kids set up their camp and covered Appa'e entire body in a blanket of moss. Momo moved beside Appa and tried to mimic his disguise.

"There you go buddy!" said Aang after going over his camouflage. "Now you look just like a little hill with horns". Appa gave a loud grumble in response, as the kids went on their way.

They stood at the top of the cliff side, to get a better view of the village. It sat in the middle of the river, surrounded by the polluted waters. They could see from here that it was a very small village and looked slightly run down. Toph frowned in confusion at the location of the so-called village.

"So where is it? I can't sense anything".

"It's in the middle of the river," Sokka explained. It was understandable that Toph wouldn't be able to sense the village's location. It was probably held up in the water by planks of wood that stretched down to the river bed, with no earth or stone anywhere near it.

"It sure is!" replied an unknown voice. The group looked down to see an old man in a small boat at the bottom of the cliff.

"My name's Dock" he called, introducing himself. "Mind if I ask who you are?"

The kids, save for Toph, exchanged some quick glances before they answered. Up until now they hadn't really thought of a convincing cover story that they could give to other Fire Nation citizens. Zuko instinctively pulled his hood down further to his face, so he wouldn't be recognised. Remembering what had happened to Aang, Katara decided to reply first.

"We're, um, from the colonies".

"Wow...colonials!" Dock said, impressed. "Come on down, I'll give you a ride into town".

Soon the group was huddled together in the small boat, as Dock rowed them across the river to his village. The gang had been to many different towns on their travels, but they had never been to one that floated in the middle of a river. Much less a polluted river.

"Why do guys live out on this river" Katara asked Dock out of curiosity.

"Because we're a fishing town," he replied cheerily. "At least that's how it was before the factory moved in". He pointed up to a large and ominous looking Fire Nation factory that stood within a gap between the cliffs. Dark fumes emitted from it into the sky and large metal pipes sprouted from it down to the river below.

"The army makes their metal there. Moved in a few years ago and started gunking up our river. Now our little village is struggling to survive". Dock now spoke in a sadder tone, though for some reason he still held quite a happy demeanour. When they finally reached the dock of the village, Zuko helped Toph out of the boat and let her hold onto his arm as she had much more difficulty at feeling vibrations on wood than actual earth.

The group bid farewell to Dock and started to make their way through the village. As they walked they soon saw for themselves what a terrible state it was really in. The buildings looked old and were falling apart. The villagers themselves didn't look any better off. They appeared malnourished and filthy. They were obviously living in poverty since their main source of income was now gone. It didn't even look as though they had much to do anymore. Most of them were just lying around the village, with out any work or entertainment. This bleak sight sent a sharp pain into Katara's chest.

"Look at this place. It's terrible. Maybe we should do something to help".

"No, we can't waste anytime here," said Sokka, raising his hand to dismiss her suggestion "We have a bigger mission that we need to stay focused on. These people are on their own"

"These people are starving!" said Katara angrily at her brother, "but you would turn your back on them. How can you be so heartless?"

"I'm not being heartless, I'm being realistic!" he said, as he stopped walking to face her. "We can't go around helping every run down little town we wander into. We'll be helping them all by taking out the Fire Lord!"

Following the sound of Sokka's voice, Toph quickly moved over to him and roughly slapped her hand to his mouth, as he said that last part in a little too much enthusiasm.

"Hey, loudmouth! Maybe we should be a little quieter when we talk about taking out the Fire Lord".

After she removed her hand, Sokka decide to follow Toph's advice and now spoke in a much softer tone.

"Come on, Katara, be reasonable about this. You know our mission has to come first".

Katara however still held an unhappy expression and was not ready to back down yet. She turned to Zuko who had remained silent during the argument.

"Aren't _you_ going to say anything?" she asked, hoping to get some support. "These are your people. Don't you care about what's happening to them?"

Zuko looked out across the river, trying to avoid Katara's stare. He shifted his gaze up to the factory that was causing all the pollution. He then closed his eyes and let out a small sigh.

"Sokka's right" he said, while still not looking at her. "We should be focusing on the mission". Katara now looked a little disheartened at his answer and reluctantly decide to agree with them.

"Let's just get what we need and go," said Aang, who had also stayed quiet during the discussion, as he didn't want to add anymore to the arguing and knew that the best way to end would be to the leave the village. The kids continued to explore the village until they finally found what looked like a market stall where they could buy their food. They moved up to the counter and saw that Dock was working behind it, now sporting a different hat than before.

"Hey, Dock" said Sokka. "You work here too?"

"I'm not Dock" he replied as he turned to face them. "I'm Xu. Dock's my brother".

The kids were completely baffled by his statement, as he looked and sounded exactly like the man they met on the river.

"But we just saw you" said Aang. "You're even wearing the same clothes. The only difference is you have a new hat".

"Dock works on the docks" the old man replied, trying to explain more clearly. "That's why they call him Dock, and I work in the shop, that's why they call me Xu".

The kids still didn't know what to make of his story, as it now made even less sense to them.

"I don't get it" said Aang.

"Me neither" said Xu. He then quickly pulled out a crate filled with rotten seafood."What can I getcha? I'll give you special deal. If you buy three fish, I'll throw in a clam for free".

Sokka took a long look at the foul smelling and revolting fish. The best he could say of it was that it looked better than the clams.

"We'll just take the fish," he said finally. After they made the exchange, Sokka spoke again.

"Mind telling your brother we need a ride back to shore?" he said, deciding to play along with the act. Xu ducked down beneath the counter and reappeared now wearing the same hat as when they first met.

"Hey, colonials. My brother says you need a lift". Dock jumped over the counter and started to lead the group back to his boat. As Katara began to follow them, she stopped when she felt something pulling at her robe from behind. She looked down to see a small urchin boy, smiling up at her.

"Can you spare some food?" he asked politely.

Katara bent down to give him one of the fish they had bought and watch them run off to give the fish to an ill-looking woman, presumably his mother, who was lying against a wall. Katara slowly made her way back to join the others, wishing that she could have done more for that poor boy.

* * *

Back at the campsite the group began to prepare their dinner, which consisted mostly of rotten fish. Zuko lit a fire, while Katara and Toph used a combination of their bending to separate a large amount of pollution from the cooking water they had collected. Once the meal was ready, they all took a bowl of the rotten fish stew and ate what could from it. Sokka continued to ponder over his schedule as he ate.

"Our detour into town today has completely thrown us off" he said as he took another sip of stew. "It's gonna take some serious finagling to get us back on track".

"Finagle away, O schedule master" said Toph sarcastically, not even sure what the word finagles meant.

"Well, for starters" replied Sokka as he went over the schedule, "it looks like we'll need to wake up forty-three minutes earlier every day".

"Forty-three minutes?" repeated Katara.

"Look, we only have a few weeks to get to the Fire Lord in time for the eclipse" he said, trying to stress his point. "Which by the way, only lasts for eight minutes. And we just lost a whole day. So if we want to make up the time and stay on schedule, we have to wake up early!"

Toph lay back on the ground and shrugged her shoulders in mild defiance. "Well, I'm not waking up early".

Sokka crossed his arms, angry at their attitude. "Or we could just cut out all of our eating breaks" he threatened.

Toph quickly sat back up, and along with Katara and Aang, voiced her objection to his idea, all of them now getting very tired of Sokka's authoritarian treatment of them.

"Ooh I got it," said Sokka in a moment of inspiration. "From now on, we'll take food breaks and potty breaks at the same time". He smiled to himself for coming up with such a clever idea, while the others merely thought it was disgusting. Zuko, who hadn't said anything since they left the village, let out a tired sigh at their arguing.

"Look lets just leave here tomorrow morning, before something else happens" he said.

"That's the plan," said Sokka, glad to finally get some support. "At least someone around here is focused on our mission". Sokka rolled up his schedule and prepared for bed, while the others got up to do the same. Katara however, stayed seated, still unable to get the villagers plight out of her mind.

* * *

The group was awakened the next morning by a loud grumbling sound. Katara was standing beside Appa, who appeared to be the cause of the noise. He was lying on his side and was groaning in pain. Aang got up and moved over to him in concern.

"What's wrong with Appa?" he asked Katara.

"I think he's sick" she replied.

"What?"shouted Sokka as he jumped out of bed and ran over to them. "Appa's sick? This is awful".

"Wow, Sokka," said Toph in a surprise voice. "I didn't realize you cared so much about him".

"Of course I care!" he said. "I might as well just throw our schedule away now!" He once again pulled out his precious schedule and went over it with a critical eye. He soon stopped when he noticed the anger glare the others were giving him. He quickly changed his attitude and rushed to Appa's side.

"And I'm concerned because my big furry friend doesn't feel very well". He began to rub his face in Appa's fur affectionately.

"He must have gotten sick from being in that polluted water" said Toph, making an educated guess.

Zuko rose out of his bed to join the others and was now looking over Appa for himself. "He doesn't look that sick. You sure he can't fly?" he asked Aang.

Aang gave Appa a pat on his head and in response a large tongue fell out of his mouth. They could see that nearly half of it had turned the colour purple. Aang desperately lifted the tongue to examine it better. "This can't be good. It must be infected," he said. "Katara can you heal him?"

"I'm not sure" she said. "Maybe he needs some medicine. We could get some herbs in town".

* * *

Once the group had returned to the village they began to notice how something about it felt different from yesterday. It was as though the entire village had undergone some sort of change overnight. The people were now much livelier and proactive. They seemed to be moving around the village with a greater sense of purpose. Katara smiled as she saw the urchin boy who had asked her food, run past them, flying a kite.

They managed to find the market stall from yesterday, with Xu standing behind it. They could tell it was Xu based on the hat he was wearing.

"Hey, Xu, what's going on with everyone today?" asked Sokka.

"Ah, something amazing happened last night" he replied in an almost mystical sense. "Food was delivered to our village by a mysterious and wonderful person...the Painted Lady".

"The Painted who now?" asked Katara.

"The Painted Lady" he repeated. From underneath the counter he pulled out, a small wooden statue of a women. The kids bent down to get a closer look at the statue. They could see that the women wore a long cloak that covered her body from her shoulders to her feet, and a wide-brimmed conical hat. Underneath the hat they could see the women's face. She wore some elaborate red and yellow face painted, similar to that of the Kyoshi warriors. This made her appear both beautiful and elegant, but at the same she also held a very caring and generous look on her face, giving her the appearance of some one who sought to help others.

"She's part of our town's lore" Xu continued. "They say she's a river spirit who watches over our town in times of need. I always thought she was just a legend. Until now".

"See?" said Sokka to Katara once they stood back up. "We don't have to help these people; they already have someone to help them". He turned to look at Xu again. "All we need is medicine for our sick friend".

"Medicine?" said Xu. "Sorry, all the medicine we have goes to the factory. That's why there are so many sick people in our village". Like his _brother_, Xu didn't seem to show any signs of bitterness toward the factory that was causing the village so much pain. Zuko, who stood with his back to the counter looking over the town, cringed as Xu spoke and lowered his head down.

"Looks like we need to stay another night so Appa can rest" said Katara, now that there was no chance of them getting any medicine.

"I guess you're right," said a disappointed Sokka, unable to think of an alternative. "You got any more food to sell?" he asked Xu, hoping to get something out of their trip. Once again Xu pulled out a crate of disgusting seafood, ready to do business.

"Would you like the one-headed fish, or the two-headed fish?"

Sokka took another look at the crate full of fish, which did indeed include some two-head ones. After mauling it over he made his decision and picked up a two-headed fish to buy. The rest of the group took a step back from him in revulsion, as he held up what was supposed to be their dinner. He turned back to them in surprise, while still holding the fish in his hand.

"What? You get more for your money this way".

The others just moved further back from the mutated fish, not wanting to even touch it. Katara put her hands to her mouth feeling like she would be sick.

* * *

Zuko sat at the edge of the campsite looking out over the river. Once again he shifted his gaze up to the factory on the cliff side that was still churning pollution even in the middle of the night. Every time he thought about that factory and what it was doing, he felt nothing but guilt and shame. He hoped Appa would get better soon, so that could leave this place behind, but at the same time he wished that there was something he could do to help the villagers. He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt something at his leg. He looked down to see Momo who had come out to join him. Zuko let him climb up onto his lap and lightly scratched his head.

"Hey Zuko" yawned a tired voice from behind. Zuko turned to see Aang walking over to him. He rubbed his eyes as he sat crossed legged beside them. Momo jumped out of Zuko's lap and onto Aang's head.

"What are you guys doing up?" he asked.

"I couldn't sleep" replied Zuko. "I can't help it but I keep thinking about what's happening to those villagers. About how much they're suffering". Zuko tilted his head back to look up at the sky. "When I was travelling through the Earth Kingdom, I saw how the war had such a negative impact on the people over there, and now I can see that it's had just as a big of an impact over here as well".

Aang looked down to the ground unsure of how to reply. "I know things are bad right now…. but I'm sure they'll get better soon" he said with optimistic smile. "The villagers seemed pretty happy today, after the Painted Lady helped them out".

"They shouldn't have to rely on some river spirit to solve their problems," said Zuko in frustration. "The Fire Nation should be taking care of its people, and not treating them like this. I'm the Crown Prince, but I had no idea that things like this were happening here". Zuko now held his head down in shame. "And now there's nothing I can do to help them".

Aang looked over at Zuko in sympathy, understanding his dilemma. He now began to feel guilty himself. It was his duty as the Avatar to keep the world in balance. That included the Fire Nation.

"Zuko…I promise" he said with a serious and genuine face, "when the war is over, we're going to help rebuild the Fire Nation, along with rest of the world, together. We're not gonna abandon you guy". Aang placed his hand firmly on Zuko's shoulder to emphasise his promise. Zuko looked back at him with a smile, grateful for his words. The two of them, including Momo stayed up a while longer to talk, until they decide to go back to bed, after Zuko pointed out that Sokka probably wouldn't let them sleep in. Had they stayed where they were a little longer they would have seen the unusual fog that was moving onto the village.

The mist was unnatural, both in how it appeared and how it was moving. It slowly began to cover the entire village. Within the mist was a woman, who greatly resembled the statue that the group saw earlier. She glided along the water, while the mist was obscuring her presence from anyone who might be out. She reached a large building near the centre of the town. She entered to see a large number of villagers sleeping on the floor, many of whom appeared sick. The woman walked to each of the villagers in turn and bent over them. From her hands emitted a bright blue glow whenever she touched them, which seemed to heal them of their afflictions. After she had gone through each of the patients, the woman went back outside to the dock. Just before she stepped onto the water, she heard a small voice come from behind.

"Thank you, Painted Lady".

Katara let out a small gasp when she heard the urchin boy's voice. He had come out to thank her for healing his mother. Katara gave the boy a small nod in acknowledgement, while still not turning to face him. She then stepped back onto the water and gilded into the fog.

* * *

For the third time in a row, the group walked through the village up to Xu's market counter, intent on buying some fish. This time however it was Dock behind the counter, polishing the statue of the Painted Lady.

"Hey Dock" said Sokka. "Is Xu around?"

"Let me check" he replied. Dock quickly ran around to the back of the shop, where he ducked his head down to switch hats and then ran back to the counter.

"Hey there!" greeted Xu. "Back again, are ya colonials"

"We need more food" said Toph, as she slapped some money down on the counter. "Our friend is still sick and we can't leave until he's better".

"Oh, well, that's too bad" said Xu, as he pulled out yet another crate of unappealing seafood. "Maybe if you guys are lucky, the Painted Lady will visit you in the night, and heal your friend".

"Oh yeah" said Sokka sceptically. "And maybe she'll cook us a midnight snack, and we'll all have a sing-along."

"Yeah, may be!" agreed Xu, with enthusiasm. It looked as though he was oblivious to the sarcasm. "You know, last night she visited us again and healed most of our sick folks."

"Is that why this place seems so festive?" asked Aang. The group looked over to the town square to see some villagers erecting up a much larger statue of the Painted Lady. Once it was standing up right, everyone around it began to cheer and applaud, in gratitude for what she had done for them.

"Yep" replied Xu. "And it's all because of the Painted Lady."

"Can you believe how much an entire village can be affected by one lady I mean...spirit" said Katara. She was looking up at the statue with her hands clasped together in a pray like fashion and a hopeful expression on her face. She was beginning to feel relieved, thinking that the town was finally starting to turn itself around.

"Well, I hope she returns every night or less this place would go right back to dumps again" said Sokka in a rather callous manner.

"How can you say that" asked Katara, with an indignant look." Look how much better off these people are."

"It doesn't really matter if their better off now" said Zuko. "As long as this river stays poisoned, the villagers will always have to face hard times."

"Exactly" added Sokka. "Without the Painted Lady, these people wouldn't be able to fend for themselves. If she really wanted to help she would use her spirit magic to blow up that factory". Sokka now began to wave his arms around to demonstrate the kind of magic he would expect.

"Ooooooh….boom!"

"Spirit magic doesn't work like that Sokka" said Aang in a disapproving manner. "It's more like... Woooooo". Aang now began to do his own dance beside Sokka. Katara let out an angry growl as both Aang and Sokka started comparing sound effects of spirit magic.

* * *

Katara waited until she was certain everyone had fallen sleeping before she got out of bed. As she got up, she quietly placed some dried grass under her covers to hide her absence. She moved out to the edge of the camp to put on her outfit. She placed a large and ragged purple gown over her shoulders. She then froze a puddle of water on a nearby stone, to create a makeshift mirror. Using the mirror, she applied some face paint that mimicked what she had seen on the actual statue. Finally she donned a wide conical hat, just like the real Painted Lady, only this hat also had a large white veil, which would keep her face covered.

Once she was ready, Katara made her way to the river. She tried to move as quick as she could, but in her haste she failed to notice Momo had woken up and spotted her. Momo flew over to Aang and started tapping his head to wake him. Aang groaned as he opened his eyes to see Momo's staring directly at him.

"What's the matter, buddy?"

Aang looked past Momo to see what had awoken him. Out in the distance, fading into some fog, was a woman wearing a purple robe and a large hat with a veil. Aang let out a small gasp, as he realised that it was the Painted Lady herself.

"It's really her!" he said excitedly. He jumped out of bed and ran out to catch up with her. When he got close enough he called out to her.

"Hello, Painted Lady spirit!"

Katara froze when she heard Aang's voice. She turned her head back to see Aang was just a few yards behind her. She couldn't risk being discovered yet, not until she had finished what she set out to do. She ran down the landscape as fast as she could to get away from him. When Aang saw what she was doing he quickly chased after her, easily able to keep up with her due to his enhanced speed. He didn't know why she was running away. He had only wanted to ask her if she would heal Appa. Thinking that it was a misunderstanding he yelled at her while he ran, to try and explain himself.

"Excuse me, I don't mean to bother you, but my friend's sick and we're on kind of a tight schedule!"

Katara only quickened her pace, until she finally made it to the river. She knew she would be faster on water than Aang was on land. She stepped into the river and used her waterbending to surf almost effortless over the surface of the water toward the village.

Although Aang was surprised how fast she could move on the water, he figured it made sense since she was a river spirit. He used his airbending to jump as high as he could into the air. When he was about to hit the water, he froze a small puddle of it to form a sheet of ice. He landed with one foot on it and jumped once again into the air, creating more ice to hop across.

"Wait, but I'm the great bridge between your world and mine" he called to her, trying to introduce himself properly. "I also know Hei Bai. You know? The big bear. We're close personal friends."

By now Katara had made it into the village and began to weave her way in-between the buildings. However Aang was determined and now ran across the rooftops, so that he wouldn't lose sight of her. He was about to call out to her again when he ran straight into a roof poll and fell flat on his back.

When she saw that Aang was distracted, Katara moved as fast as she could over the water. She finally reached the opposite bank and hide behind a rock to catch her breath. She looked back around the rock to see that Aang had stopped following her. She let out a sigh of relief, thinking that she was safe and could continue her mission. However as she turned around, she received another fright when, somehow, Aang had miraculously appeared right in front of her, suspendered upside down.

"I'm Aang" he said respectfully. He then lifted up his headband to reveal his arrow. "I'm the Avatar."

Katara was initially afraid about Aang seeing her in her Painted Lady outfit, but it look as though he hadn't figured out it was really her yet. She pulled her hat down further, to keep her face hidden.

"Well, hello, Avatar." she said, in kind of raspy voice that resembled an old women. "I wish I could talk, but I am very busy." She tried not to look directly at him, instead giving him some hand gestures to empathize her point.

"Yeah, me too. I hate that" he complained. Now that he was looking at her up close, Aang noticed how she seemed different from the other spirits he had met with. The most obvious difference, of course, was that she actually looked a lot like a regular person. Aang took a quick peak under her hat to get a better look at her face, before she pulled it down even further.

"You know, you're really pretty for a spirit." he said. "I haven't met a lot of spirits, but the ones I do meet are not very attractive." In his mind he remembered when he had come face to face with Koh, the face stealer. Now that was something that kept him up at night. Katara chuckled nervously at his comment and at the same time she felt her checks become redder when he said she was pretty.

"Thank you, but I really should…"

"You seem really familiar" he continued after he went over her again. As he tried to take another look at her face, he kept getting this strange feeling that he had seen her somewhere before. It wasn't from the statue he had seen in town. She worn the same face paint, but the statue of the women he saw looked a lot older. And for some reason he only thought of that statue as being good looking. But the women standing in front of him right now, to Aang she looked very beautiful.

"A lot of people say that" replied Katara, now feeling desperate to get away.

"No...I mean like…. we've met before kind of familiar." Aang moved closer to her and gave her a suspicious stare. It wasn't just her face; it was also how she simply appeared in general. The way she talked, the way she moved. Even the way she sounded. She seemed almost…human.

"Look, I really should get going" Katara said finally. She turned back to the river, planning to sneak back to the camp and to do this tomorrow night. As she began to leave, Aang decided that there was indeed something wrong with this so called spirit and he was going to prove it. He sent a quick gust of air underneath the women, blowing her hat upward, so her face would be revealed. She frantically tried to pull it back down, but it was already too late. Aang had seen who she really was.

"Katara!"

Katara took off her hat and hung her head down in defeat. "Hi Aang"

"You're the Painted Lady!" he said, in shock. "How?"

"I wasn't at first" she began, "I was just trying to help the village. But since everyone thought that's who I was anyway...I sort of became her."

"So you were sneaking into the village at night to heal them" he said slowly. Another thought suddenly came into his mind.

"Wait a minute. Is Appa even sick?"

Katara gave a feeble shrug of her shoulders and look away from Aang. "He might be sick of the purple berries I've been feeding him, but, other than that, he's fine."

"I can't believe you lied to everyone so you could help these people." Aang had to admit, he was surprised by Katara's actions. He knew that Zuko wanted to help the villagers too, but even he hadn't been willing to go this far to do it.

"I'm sorry" said Katara with regret. "I know I shouldn't have"

"No, I think it's great!" he said in excitement. "You're like a secret hero. Now that's cool"

Katara was a little taken back what he had said, but she was nevertheless happy to know that Aang supported her.

"Well there's one more thing I have to do. And I could use your help."

* * *

Aang followed Katara to the sight of her objective; the Army's Factory. They crouched down low behind some rocks so that wouldn't be spotted. They could the toxic sludge that that was endlessly coming out of the factory's pipes into the river.

"You really want to destroy the factory" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes. Sokka was just kidding, but he was right. Getting rid of this factory is the only way to help these people permanently."

Though Aang was a little uncertain if this was the best course of action, he decided that the factory had to be shut regardless. When it looked like there were no guards stationed anywhere, both he and Katara ran inside the factory.

The first thing that registered to Aang was the intense heat that came from the molten steel. He could see that there were hug drums of it everywhere he looked. He and Katara both shared a quick look before they split up and headed to a different side of the factory. Katara sent a quick shot of water that cut straight through the metal hooks that held up the molten steal, sending the crashing to the floor below her.

Aang jumped down to stand in the middle of some large pipes, before he lifted up a huge mound of stone from underneath him that pulled up the pipes, causing them to break. Katara now moved over to the window and using as much concentration as possible to pull in a huge wave of water that poured over the steel, hardening it quickly. After a few more feats of incredible bending, the factory was utterly ruined. Katara and Aang quickly made their exit before the army would arrive.

Once Katara had changed out of her outfit, she and Aang quietly made their way back to camp. It was already dawn, but they were hoping the others were still a sleep. Aang was making sound effects to imitate the explosion that they had caused, until beckoned him to stop

"Shhh, we don't want to wake Sokka" she cautioned. It was already too late for this. When turned around a rock into the camp, they saw Sokka, Toph and Zuko waiting for them. Katara immediately tried to act innocence, hoping that they didn't know too much already.

"Oh, hi Sokka. We were just...out on a morning walk!"

"Oh, really. A morning walk?" he said with enough scepticism to verify that he had indeed found them out. As a finishing touch he pulled out Katara's sleeping bag and dumped out the dried grass.

"I know you're the Painted Lady. I know you've been sneaking out at night, and I know you've been lying about Appa and feeding him purplizing tongue berries!"

He pointed to Toph, who held up some berries in her hand and stuck out her now-purple tongue as further evidence.

"What were you thinking?" Sokka shouted at Katara.

"I was thinking that those people needed my help" she replied in an equally angry voice.

"What you did was dangerous" said Zuko. "You could've put the entire invasion plan at risk."

Katara looked gave Zuko an annoyed glare and crossed her arms. "Well since no one else around cares about what happens to those villagers I had to do something."

"That's not true!" he said defensively. "I do care about them"

"If you really did then you would have been the one to do this not me" she said accusingly. Zuko looked like he was about to argue back at her but Sokka stood in between them.

"Both of you stop it!" he demanded. He then gave Katara a very angry glare. "We have been through this enough times. We have a more important mission that comes first. We are leaving right now!"

Katara looked away from Sokka and just walked back into the camp. Aang moved to follow her when Sokka gave him a suspicious stare.

"And how long did _you_ know about this?"

"Hey, I just found out this morning" replied Aang. He then hurriedly ran ahead as Sokka didn't seem like he was in the mood for any more nonsense.

* * *

General Mung walked through the ruins of his destroyed factory. It would take months to rebuild it. His superiors would be furious. Fire Lord Ozai had been ordering more and more metal for his war machines, ever since Ba Sing Si had been taken. Mung was probably going to lose his rank because of this, but before that was going to catch the scum who did this.

He looked down from the cliff's to that worthless little village that been here since they arrive. He was amazed that those villagers had survived this long. He scowled menacingly, knowing that it wouldn't be there much longer.

* * *

The kids were almost finished packing the last of their things. Katara and Sokka were avoiding each other's gaze, clearly not wanting to talk. Suddenly a strange noise began to fill the air. It seemed to be coming from the river. The kids moved up the cliff to get a better view. They saw a small number of Fire nation soldiers on some kind of metal ski machine, racing down to the village.

"What's going on?" asked Toph.

"Fire Nation soldiers are heading to the village" replied Aang in a worried voice.

Sokka turned to Katara, with an anger glare, knowing she was somehow responsible for this. "What did you do?"

"I...kind of destroyed their factory" she said in a guilty manner, without looking at him.

"You what!" he shouted.

"It was_ your_ idea!" she shot back at him.

"I was joking. I also said to use spirit magic and make funny noises." Sokka slapped his head in agitation. "Did you even think this through? The army thinks the villagers did it. Now they're going to get revenge"

"I did what I had to do" Katara said firmly.

"Well what do we do now huh? You tell me! Are you and Aang gonna go down there and just waterbend those soldiers away. That'll be great except you'll only end up exposing all of us and the invasion will be ruined"

"Hey… what's Zuko doing?" asked Toph. The others looked around in surprise to see that he was gone. They moved back down to the camp and found him. He was changing into some darker clothing.

"What are you doing?" asked Aang.

"I'm going down there to fight the soldiers myself" he said, while pulling a glove onto each hand.

"You can't go! Not on your own" said Katara.

"I have to" he said. "Ever since we got here, I've been trying to ignore what's been happening to those villagers. I kept thinking that we had a more important mission to focus on, but now I realise that helping those people _is_ my mission. You were right; I should have done something before now."

From his bag he pulled out a small blue mask with a kind of demonic design and placed on his face.

"What is that?" asked Katara.

"You're not the only one with a secret spirit identity" he replied. "Besides, this way you guys won't end up revealing yourself".

"I'm not letting you do this alone" said Katara as she moved forward to go with him down to the village.

"Katara stop!" said Sokka, grabbing her by the shoulder. "Zuko's right, he's the only one of us who can do this without jeopardising the rest of us. Look, just stay here and do nothing!" For a moment Katara shook with angry and decided she couldn't do this any longer.

"No!" she Karata shouted, as she spun around to Sokka and looked him dead in the eye. "I will never, _ever _turn my back on people who need me!" She spoke with so much force and determination that it didn't look like there was any way of dissuading her.

Katara now started to make her way to the village on her own. Sokka could only watch her go and he now began to finally understand why there was no point in stopping her. Katara was just being herself. He couldn't ask her to change that. But he could stand by her no matter what. He quickly caught up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder once again. This time however he did it as an act of affection.

"Wait. I'm coming too." Katara turned around to give him an annoyed look.

"I thought you didn't want to help."

"I know I said that, but _you_ need _me_, and I will never turn my back on _you_. No matter what"

Katara felt her eyes water a little, as she listened to what her brother was trying to tell her. Despite all their arguing and all their disagreement over the last few days, Sokka was still willing to give her, his complete support. She then embraced him in a deep hug. "Sokka, you really do have a heart."

Aang and Toph stood back and watched as the two siblings reconciled and reach a deeper understanding between each other. Aang rubbed his eyes with shelve, overcome with emotion.

"He really does have a heart, doesn't he"? Aang turned to Toph for conformation. Toph however had zero tolerance for this kind of sappiness. She made sure to remind Aang of this by punching him right in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Zuko, who had also remained standing, decided to bring everyone back to reality.

"Well this is all real touching and everything" he said, with a slight hint of contempt. "But it doesn't change the fact that the Avatar can't just go down there and save the day".

"Maybe not the Avatar" said Sokka, breaking away from his hug. "But maybe the Painted Lady can".

* * *

General Mung had gathered all the villagers together in the centre of the town. He was going to deliver justice on all of them for their crimes. Most the villagers had pleaded innocent, but he wasn't going to be fooled. In his opinion anyone, even a citizen of the Fire Nation, who goes against the Fire Nation Army, was a nothing more than a traitor to their country and they would not be missed by anybody.

"I thought we could all live peacefully, as neighbours" he said, addressing the gathered villagers. "But I guess I was wrong. You steal our food, our medicine and then you destroy our factory."

Suddenly the general saw that eccentric mad man pop out of the crowd. Ever since they had brought him to the square he had been rambling on about some river spirit.

"We didn't do any of that" he said. He quickly moved back inside the crowd and appeared again, wearing a different hat.

"Yeah" added Xu. "The Painted Lady brought us food. She's the one that healed our sick, not your medicine." The other villagers didn't even react to Dock or Xu's performance. All they could think about was what the soldiers were about to do to them.

"Oh, right, the mysterious Painted Lady did it" the general replied in a sceptical voice that would have done Sokka proud. "And I suppose she drew the army emblem on your containers, too. " He pointed over to a metal container of food that bore the flame emblem of the Fire Nation. In angry, the general threw a ball of fire at the container, destroying it.

"This is nothing but a town of thieves and liars! And we're going to cure the world of this wretched place."

At his command the soldiers began to demolish the village. The ones who stood on the docks set fight to several buildings, while those still on their jet ski's attacked the support pillars that held up the village, causing sections of it to fall into the water. Two more soldiers stood beside a large flammable bomb perched on a buoy in the river. They lit the bomb, preparing to stand back from the explosion, when suddenly the flames were blown out be a mysterious gust of wind. The soldiers were initially confused as to how this happened, until the general order them to light it again. They once again lit the bomb, but another gust of wind quickly put it out.

The soldiers looked back to the general in uncertainty. Mung now started to eye the terrified crowd with suspicion, thinking that this must be one of their tricks, when he heard an eerie sound fill the air. The solders turned their heads in surprise, trying to pin point the source of this noise, which seemed to resemble a kind of music.

"What is that?" said one solider, who pointed out to the river. Everyone now looked to where he was indicating, to see an enormous blanket of fog slowly come out from the cliffs. The soldiers were beginning to feel afraid as they heard a strange growling noise that sounded like it was being made by some kind of monster. The villagers were also beginning to feel worried and uncertain of what was happening.

"It's the Painted Lady!" said the young urchin boy. He looked at the fog in excitement, knowing that the soldiers were trouble.

"There is _no_ Painted Lady!" growled Mung in defiance. He didn't believe in such things as spirits and he was prepared for whoever or whatever was coming out of that fog. Now there was a large, repetitive thudding sound, as of footsteps, coming from within the fog.

Across the river, hidden inside the blanket of fog was Toph, levitating a huge boulder into the air and dropping it onto the ground. Appa stood behind her and continued to growl as loudly as he could. Sokka sat on the ground, playing the flute, which provided the eerie music. The plan was going well. They had provided the atmosphere. Now it was time to deliver the performance.

By now the soldiers were feeling completely terrified, while the villagers began to relax, thinking that they were saved. They were all watching the fog intently to see what was going to happen next. Suddenly the fog parted itself dramatically, revealing a women in a robe standing on top of the water. Katara paused for a moment, to add some more theatrical effect, until she rushed toward the village in a burst of waterbending. She slowed herself, as she came up to the dock of the town and jumped into the air, to land a few feet in front of Mung and his soldiers.

Mung was speechless at what he was seeing. For a few seconds he was overcome with fear, but he tried to regain his earlier bravado. He grabbed two of his soldiers and threw them forward, to stand between him and the Painted Lady.

"Do something!" he ordered, almost desperately.

The two officers both drew their weapons and timidly walked forward to the women. Katara was certain she could have taken them herself, but part of Sokka's plan was that Katara wasn't supposed to do any obvious waterbending or the soldiers might see through the act. She couldn't attack them directly herself, so that's why she had back up.

Aang and Zuko, who was still in his Blue Spirit disguise, were hidden underneath the planks of the dock. They were able to see what was happening by looking through the cracks of wood. When the soldiers were close enough, Aang drew his breath a shot a blast of air up at them from below, knocking their weapons and helmets into the air. Both soldiers ran back behind the general in fear.

"Stand your ground" Mung ordered as nearly every one of his men looked as though they were about to run away. Katara smiled as the plan was almost complete. If they could fool the soldiers into thinking she was too powerful to fight, they would definitely retreat. All she had to do now was add the finishing touch. She raised her left hand upward, creating a pillar of water underneath two jet skis, hurling them into the air. After the ski's had crashed into the side of the cliff, Katara simply raised her hand once again to the soldiers, as if to wreck further havoc upon them.

The soldiers ran as fast as they could to the remaining jet skis and raced across the water, wanting to get as far away from the village as they could. The only one remaining was Mung, himself, who refused to back down.

"I'll take care of you myself" he said confidently, while taking a fighting stance. Aang looked up from below and for the first time, felt worried. He was concerned for Katara's safety and wasn't sure of how he could stop the general from attacking, without running the plan.

Mung spun himself around in a circle and as he rounded on Katara he prepared to let loose a horizontal arc of fire at her. Katara was about to instinctively use her waterbending to defend herself, when suddenly the general's attack shot off in the wrong direction. Mung wobbled for a moment as he felt something burst through the planks of wood and grab him by the leg as he spun. It happened so fast that he couldn't see what had it was, but he rationalised that it was more of the Painted Lady's magic.

Zuko had been silent enough to move underneath the dock without being noticed, to stand directly below the general. When he was about to attack Zuko thrust his hand upward and pulled his leg down. Aang let out a sigh of relief when Zuko had saved Katara. He watched as Zuko jumped into the water, leaving Mung with his leg still stuck in the wood. As he desperately tried to free himself, Aang took advantage of this opportunity to send a powerful blast of air at the general, which knock him into the air as well as destroying a small section of the dock.

Mung throw diecrtly into the river covering him in his own sludge. As he foundered in the water, he looked up to see Katara rising out of the polluted water, with her arms rasied thearteningly.

"Leave this village and never come back" she commaned. Mung swam desperately away from her, until one of his men returned on a jet ski for him. He clambered onto it and just zoomed down the river. Once it looked like the danger had passed, Sokka rowed himself and Toph back to the village to join the others. Katara moved back to stand on the docks of the town, while the villagers appulaed her for saving them. Dock walked fowrad to her thanks on behalf of the entire villagers.

"Thank you. Me and my brothers really owe you a lot." He paused for a moent as he looked at her up close and then has a shock of recognition. "Hey, wait a minute! I know you! You're not the Painted Lady, you're that colonial girl!"

Katara let out a small gasp, as she touched her face and reaslied that most of her face paint had washed away. Some of the villagers shouted out that she must be a waterbender. There eariler appluse now turned to angry. It seemed as though they didn't like the idea of someone pretending to be their Painted Lady. However Sokka ran forward to intervene before things got too ugly.

"Maybe she is a waterbender" he said over the villagers shouting. "But she was just trying to help you. Because of her, that factory won't be polluting your river, and the army is gone. You should be down on your knees thanking her." Sokka was about to continue until Katara said it was alright. She then moved to address the villagers herself.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have acted like someone I wasn't, and I shouldn't have tricked you. But I felt like I had to do something. It doesn't matter if the Painted Lady is real or not. Because your problems are real, and this river is real. You can't wait around for someone to help you. You have to help yourself."

The villgeras previous anger began to fade, as they listen to Katara's speech.

"She's right" said Dock in realization, "but what should we do?"

Toph had hidden herself within the crowd and poped her head out to make a suggeston.

"Maybe we could clean the river" she said in a gruff voice.

"Hey, maybe we can clean the river!" said Dock, when the thought came to him from out of nowhere. The crowd now cheered at the idea, happy to have the chance to restore their village to its proper state.

"You know, you're not so bad for a waterbender" said Dock to Katara, as if it was some kind of complenment.

"You wouldn't mind keeping that a secret, by the way, would you" asked Sokka quickly.

"No problem" Dock replied. "Keeping my mouth shut is a personal specialty. My brother Xu, on the other hand. He's a blabbermouth."

"So, Dock, are you ready to help us clean?" asked Katara.

"No, ma'am. I'm going to get my other brother, Bushi. He loves cleaning rivers". At that moment Dock pulled off his hat to reveal another one hidden inside.

"Alright, I'm Bushi!" said this newest brother. "Let's get some river cleaning done".

"Aha, I knew it!" said Aang triumphantly. "I knew you were then same guy. You're the shop owner and the boat guy."

"Oh, you must be talking about my brothers, Dock and Xu" said Bushi.

"No, I just saw you!" said Aang in exasperation. "You just switched hats and called yourself a different name!"

"Oh, you know who does that. My brother Dock. He's crazy!"

Aang was beginning to fume in frustration, while Katara and Sokka gave Bushi a quizzical look. As Bushi went to get his boat ready, he noticed Zuko, still wearing his mask. They stared at each other for moment, until Bushi gave him a smile.

"Nice mask!"

Zuko looked at the others and they all gave each other tired shrug.

* * *

Once the river was finally clean, the group bid farewell to Dock, Xu ….uh Bushi and all the other villagers who agreed to keep their secret, in return for all that they had done for them. That night the kids took a good and long rest, exhausted from all their hard work. Katara stayed up for a while longer and took one last trip down to the river, knowing that she probably would never see it again. Sokka had been pretty adamant about leaving in the morning. Of course Katara didn't feel like disagreeing. The villagers were now safe and the river was restored, so she could think of no reason for them to stay any longer.

As Katara looked out over the gleaming water, she couldn't help but feel very proud of herself. As a reward for her achievement, she decided to take some of the river water, which was now safe to drink. She bent down to fill her water sack, when all of a sudden she began to noticed a strange fog appearing over the water.

Katara looked up from the water, to the fog and felt her mouth literally hang open at what she saw.

It was the real Painted Lady, in the flesh. So to speak. She looked almost exactly like the statue in the town square. The only difference was that she appeared ghostly white, with the exception of her red face paint and jet black hair. The spirit floated over the water to stand directly in front of Katara. She smiled at her and gave her a small bow of her head.

"Thank you" Her voice echoed in Katara's ears and carried with it nothing but the deepest gratitude.

The spirit now moved backwards into the fog and faded away into the night. Katara was left standing where she was, her mind still reeling over the fact that the Painted Lady was indeed real. For a moment she wondered if she should wake the others and tell them of her encounter, but quickly decided not to. The Painted Lady's message was meant just for her and in that moment Katara smiled to herself in satisfaction, knowing that she done the right thing.

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Please review and tell me what you thouht. Don't know when I will update agin, but I'll keep at it.


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